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Christchurch heritage buildings to be demolished

Two inner city Christchurch buildings were due for demolition today as property managers and engineers assessed safety.The buildings include the 1906 seven-level former New Zealand Express Co/MLC Building at 160 Manchester St (corner of Hereford), a New Z

Chris Hutching
Tue, 07 Sep 2010

Two inner city Christchurch buildings were due for demolition today as property managers and engineers assessed safety.

The buildings include the 1906 seven-level former New Zealand Express Co/MLC Building at 160 Manchester St (corner of Hereford), a New Zealand Historic Places Trust catergory 1 listing.

The other is the two-level 1877 Cecil House (retailer Country Theme) at 68-76 Manchester St (corner St Asaph).

The city council is advising building owners that many buildings that appear damaged can be repaired and building owners should seek professional advice.

The Historic Places Trust and supporters are keen to prevent wholesale clearance of the many old brick structures, although this could arguably facilitate the vision of civic leaders for a central city rebuilding renaissance.

“There should be no pre-emptive clearing or removal of heritage buildings or structures. Safety is of utmost importance. However we also wish to retain heritage buildings in the city,” according to a city council directive today.

The number of old earthquake-prone buildings has long been a problem as well as an asset for the city. Some are vacant because owners cannot afford necessary refurbishment and strengthening, exacerbating problems of inner-city revitalisation.

The current post-quake assessment comes against a background of civic leaders advocating an inner city building programme of apartments to accommodate up to 30,000.

However, if this number of people had been resident in the central city during the earthquake, there would almost certainly have been casualties.

Where urgent work is necessary to ensure safety of buildings, resource consents and other permissions can be dealt with retrospectively but advice should be sought from Christchurch City Council and the Historic Places Trust, a city council spokesperson said.

Chris Hutching
Tue, 07 Sep 2010
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Christchurch heritage buildings to be demolished
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