24 November 2016

Three Council buildings to be demolished following quake

Wellington City Council is to organise the quick demolition of three of its buildings around the city in light of inspections following the 14 November quake.

Two of the buildings are on the land, between Cable Street and Wakefield Street, that the City Council has purchased as the site for the proposed Movie Museum and Convention Centre.

The City Council’s Recovery Programme Manager, Mike Mendonca, says both buildings are constructed from “fragile brick, masonry and concrete”. One of the buildings was unoccupied and the other was tenanted on a short-term basis. Inspections in the past few days have established that the buildings have suffered some structural damage and could collapse in another strong quake.

Mr Mendonca says the buildings have been targeted for demolition as part of the site clearance for the Movie Museum and Convention Centre but the decision has been made to bring the work forward.

The buildings have been fenced off and ‘walk-through’ shipping containers will be placed around them tomorrow for public protection. Demolition preparation may start as early as next week.

In Karori, the Council-owned St John’s Church hall on the corner of Karori Road and Campbell Street will also be demolished in the next fortnight or so. Mr Mendonca says the 1960s building was unoccupied and had been damaged in the 2013 quakes. It is showing signs of further stress from the 14 November quake. The Council’s medium-term intention has been to demolish the building to clear the site for sale to help raise funds for the construction of the new Karori Community Centre.

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