NEWS RELEASE

30 October 2014

Portico demolition starts next week

Views from Civic Square are set to open up as work begins on removing the Portico building above the entrance into the square from Victoria Street next week.

Contractor Arrow International will set up the site then start work inside the structure which forms a ‘bridge’ between Wellington City Council’s Civic Administration Building and the Central Library. From mid-November a large crane will be brought on-site to remove the heavy pieces until the Portico is completely gone by Christmas.

Work in the New Year will concentrate on closing and weatherproofing the end walls of the CAB and the Library. There will be some noise and the structure will be taken down as quickly as possible to help minimise disruption to neighbouring businesses and residents.

Civic Square will remain open and pedestrian access to the square from Victoria Street will be through two ‘tunnels’ formed from steel shipping containers. Other entrances into Civic Square and surrounding buildings will remain open.

The Portico was built in 1992 as part of the Civic Square redevelopment. The Council decided to remove the building after an engineering assessment deemed it earthquake-prone and a quake hazard to the buildings it links.

For more information about this project visit Wellington.govt.nz/projects

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