The copper-sheathed dome, which weighs 70 tonnes, will be restored and placed on the new rotunda, which will open early 2021.

Work will start this week on a $1.5 million rebuild of Christchurch's Edmonds band rotunda.

The long-delayed work will return the rotunda, on the banks of the Avon River, to its original use as a performance venue, after it was badly damaged in the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. It was demolished in 2012 and its dome saved.

Christchurch City Council initially agreed in 2016 to rebuild the Cambridge Tce rotunda, but later put the project on hold due to "budgetary reasons".

Press Archives The Edmonds band rotunda will be returned to its original use as an entertainment venue as seen here in the 1930s.

It has now secured a $1m donation from the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal Trust toward the cost of the rebuild.

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Council heritage programme manager Richie Moyle said contractors would start work at the site this week. The original roof would be restored and placed on top of a new base and columns.

Christchurch City Council The Edmonds band rotunda had been a restaurant from the mid-80s until it was damaged and later demolished following the 2010/2011 earthquakes.

The structure would not initially be fully enclosed, but the council was considering some form of weatherproofing, Moyle said.

It was expected to open to the public in early 2021.

The rotunda was built in 1929 as a gift to the city from businessman and philanthropist Thomas Edmonds, of "Sure to Rise" baking powder and cookbook fame, to mark his 50 years of business in the city.

KIRK HARGREAVES/STUFF The Edmonds band rotunda on the Avon River was demolished in September 2012.

It was one of several building projects he either fully or partly funded, including the former Repertory Theatre in Kilmore St, and the clock tower on Oxford Tce. He planted the poplars flanking each side of the river bank. Edmonds was born in Poplar, London.

The move to return the rotunda to an entertainment venue, was supported by Edmonds' great-great-grandson Gerald Edmonds, who told councillors in 2016 the rotunda was gifted to the people of Christchurch so they could listen to music.

The rotunda was used as a restaurant from the mid-1980s.

THE PRESS ARCHIVES About 4500 people line the Avon River bank in October 1978 to hear five local groups perform in the Edmonds band rotunda, far right.

It was designed in high renaissance style by city architect Victor Hean and was 12 metres high and about 10m in diameter. The copper-sheathed dome weighs 70 tonnes.