Announcement on future of cathedral due

An announcement is due this afternoon on the future of ChristChurch Cathedral.

The iconic church was heavily damaged in the earthquakes in February and June 2011

A structural engineer who's already worked on make-safe plans for the building says there's no reason why it can't be saved.

Michael King says there are no issues he's aware of that would raise doubts over its future.

"I believe a building such as that needs to be saved, there's no price you can put on it," he says.

"It's like trying to say that you're going to get rid of the Eiffel Tower because it has a problem, you just can't."

Mr King says the building should be repaired, with requirements to bring it above code level.

Kit Miyamoto's company initially worked with the Christchurch City Council for the building's make-safe plans.

He says the Cathedral could be repaired and strengthened to more than 100 percent of code in as little as 18 months.

"It is definitely feasible to repair and strengthen it even much higher than what the building code is stating, more than 100 percent of the building code, you can definitely do that."