Killer Quake. Now You Know, CBD Red Zone, National State of Emergency

Southern CBD focus. National State of Emergency, Fri 01.04.11. The 22.02.11 Killer Quake damaged red zone in Christchurch CBD was partly opened for residents & business owners on Thursday 31.03.11. CERA allowed public to see a southern section of the red zone CBD on April Fools Day, almost 6 weeks post Feb 22, M6.3 Killer Quake, after much demolition, by Hamilton's CD, making quake trashed bldgs safe. Many bldgs described in this post, if not already demolished, would be more damaged by the June 13 Quake.


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 Quake damaged, brick bldg, Wordsworth St / Waltham Rd, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Red, plastic tape, steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged & wood braced, brick bldg, Wordsworth St / Waltham Rd, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake trashed, brick bldg, Waltham Rd, National State of Emergency


Wordsworth St / Waltham Rd: 08:30, dark enough for cars still to have lights on, daylight saving a day's hence, Sat. Wordsworth St: Grey portaloos on pavements. 4 ghost shops: 2 shops, fallen brick parapets, fallen brick wall, brick rubble on pavement, steel mesh fence cordoned. 1 shop's concrete brick, side wall, steel & concrete block braced. Another 2 ghost shops: 1. Fallen brick parapet. Wood braced, brick wall. Red, plastic tape, steel mesh fence cordoned. 2. 227 Waltham Rd: fallen upper brick wall. Attic, roof space, roof trusses, skylight windows exposed. Brick rubble on pavement, white, plastic taped, steel mesh fence cordoned.

Waltham Rd, part of our family narrative: During the Feb 22 Killer Quake, Jake's Waltham Rd, rickerty rental behind the Honda chop shop was flooded by spring water, causing him to overwinter with his girlfriend & chemical toilet in a liquefactioned garage across town.


01.04.11. Washington Reserve skateboard park, undamaged by Feb 22 quake, Waltham Rd / Moorhouse Ave, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Feb 22 quake damaged AMI Stadium, unuseable for Rugby World Cup 2011, national state of emergency. Seen from Waltham Rd overbridge. Ami Stadium would be demolished 2018-19


01.04.11. Feb 22 quake damaged old brick station, Moorhouse Ave, national state of emergency. Seen from Waltham Rd overbridge. The station would be demolished, August 2012


01.04.11. Sept 4 quake damaged & Feb 22 quake trashed RC Cathedral, Barbadoes St, red zone, national state of emergency. Seen from Waltham Rd overbridge. The RC Cathedral would be part deconstructed & abandoned for 10 years. The RC Cathedral would be demolished, 2021

On Christchurch plains, except for CBD high-rises, the only high points were overbridges. Waltham Rd Overbridge, over the railway: A good view of CBD high-rise ghosts: old, brick, station clock tower, Hotel Grand Chancellor, Holiday Inn, others, Christchurch Basilica, Music Centre of Christchurch, AMI Stadium, unusable for Rugby World Cup 2011.


01.04.11. Feb 22 quake trashed Hotel Grand Chancellor hotel, red zone, national state of emergency. Seen from Waltham Rd overbridge. Hotel Grand Chancellor would be demolished

Since the Feb 22 Killer Quake, I'd driven around AMI stadium ghost, roads, uneven, liquefactioned. Damage inside AMI stadium, anybody's guess? AMI Stadium would be demolished, 2018-19.


01.04.11. Waltham Rd view, Moorhouse Ave crossing & Barbadoes St checkpoint into the Feb 22 quake red zone, National State of Emergency

Moorhouse Ave / Barbadoes St checkpoint into the CBD red zone: I asked 2 cops if I could enter. A female cop scowled, so I said, "I'll go down Madras St by the tech, staying out of your way." They were busy checking traffic entering / leaving Barbadoes St & rearranging orange, plastic, road cones by their checkpoint wooden hut. Makeshift, blue tarp / steel mesh fence cordon, checkpoint huts were beginning to be replaced by natty wooden huts. Transportable wooden huts, sign of moveable checkpoints at CBD cordons, start of CERA's regime.


01.04.11. Feb 22 quake trashed RC Cathedral, Barbadoes St, red zone, National State of Emergency. Seen from Moorhouse Ave. The RC Cathedral would be part deconstructed & abandoned for years. Cathedral demolition, 2021


01.04.11. Yellow crane by Music Centre of Christchurch, damaged by Sept 4, Boxing Day & Feb 22 quakes, Barbadoes St / Ferry Rd, red zone, National State of Emergency. Seen from Moorhouse Ave. The Music Centre would be demolished

Moorhouse Ave: Tech carpark, brick wall was demolished, as well as an old, brick bldg in the carpark, both of which I'd snapped soon post Feb 22 Killer Quake. Across the carpark, unimpeded view of Christchurch Basilica ghost, awaiting demolition, 2021. Station brick tower ghost, wood braced, awaiting demolition, August 2012.


01.04.11. Old, brick station clock tower, damaged by Sept 4 & Feb 22 quakes, Moorhouse Ave, National State of Emergency. The station would be demolished, August 2012.


01.04.11. White, plastic, tape cordon. Feb 22 quake, liquefactioned pothole on footpath, CPIT, Christchurch Tech, Madras St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Blue portaloo, countdown carpark, Madras St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Mural jokers, countdown carpark, Madras St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.1. USA Search & Rescue graffiti, Madras St wall, red zone, National State of Emergency

Madras St: Liquefaction puddle, buckled tarseal on pavement by the tech. Blue Portaloo by a countdown carpark wall. Mural on another carpark wall, 2 workmen jokers, 1st workman: "Is my crack showing?" 2nd workman: "Don't be silly."  Orange, spray-painted, USAR / TF graffiti on a 145 Madras St wall: US-2
                           28-2
Graffiti showed the date the bldg was searched, nationality, total number of TF searchers inside the bldg. Spray-painted square around the number, showed 2 TF searchers had searched the bldg. Spray-painted circle around the squared graffiti showed 2 TF searchers had left the bldg safely. Search dates compulsory, search times optional on graffiti seen on 1 000s of bldgs, spray-painted different colours by different USAR / TF teams, many from overseas. 4 NZDF soldiers guarded St Asaph St crossing, so I turned into Southwark St, snapping more quake trashed bldgs.

Countdown would survive the quakes. Sept 2019. Small eateries would line countdown carpark near where "Don't be silly" mural was.

Southwark St: Central City Tyres, fallen brick parapet, roof space exposed, brick rubble on pavement, steel mesh fence cordoned. Another shop, fallen brick parapet, wooden boarded / braced, brick rubble on pavement. No cordon! 3 storey, Cokers Backpackers ghost, top roof space exposed, top storey brick wall fallen onto lower corrugated iron roof, brick rubble on lower corrugated iron roof & pavement, steel mesh fence cordoned. Cokers Backpackers would be demolished. View across steel mesh fence cordons to a Manchester St demolition site, brick rubble heaps, steel mesh fence cordoned.


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged brick bldg, Southwark St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged brick, Cokers Backpackers, Southwark St / Manchester St, red zone National State of Emergency. Cokers Backpackers would be demolished


01.04.11. Southwark St view, Feb 22 quake damaged & demolished old, brick bldg, Manchester St, red zone, National State of Emergency

St Asaph St: Cop helicopter (borrowed from Auckland) buzzed the CBD while I cut across a carpark by a demolition site to St Asaph St. A yellow digger & red digger claw were parked in the carpark. Beyond, a green, front end loader was parked by the backs of several old, brick bldgs, facing High St, most undamaged by the Sept 4 Darfield Quake, but trashed by the Feb 22 Killer Quake, all steel mesh fence, orange, plastic, road cone cordoned. McKenzie Willis, 3 storey, badly damaged: fallen brick parapet, fallen brick, side & back walls, rooms exposed. The Trading Store by McKenzie Willis: slightly damaged by the Sept 4 Darfield Quake, trashed by the Feb 22 Killer Quake, fallen brick parapet, roof space, rooms exposed, brick rubble in carpark. Two inspectors wearing orange, Hi-Vis vests, inspected ruins behind the fence cordon, a common sight post quakes. The part demolished, sanitized, High St bldgs, seen from St Asaph St, stood fence cordoned for months, for rubberneckers to gawp, then demolitions resumed.

In future, I would receive emails from a lawyer owner of one of those old, High St, brick, 2 storey bldgs wanting me to supply date & times of my pics of his bldg so he could win his court case against his Lloyds insurer, delaying his payout. Complicating insurance payout, a cowboy demolisher, during the National State of Emergency, had caused bricks from a next door bldg to fall on the lawyer's bldg, damaging his High St bldg more than just quake damages. An example of future trouble caused by delayed insurer payouts to 1 000s of citizen claimants. And NZ National govt did nothing to speed up claims payouts, delayed by local & overseas insurers sitting on premiums & reinsurance funds invested for shareholders. Never mind the lawyer's entitled nagging, demanding free info!

Sept 2019. Most of those High St, 2 storey, brick bldgs would survive the quakes, revamped as shop / office bldgs in renamed Salt District, backed by a St Asaph St carpark. Salt District name would be invented by post quake developers for old & new bldgs within parallel St Asaph St, Lichfield St, Tuam Street.

Views from St Asaph St, red zone cordon showed massive, CBD destruction: Broken bldgs, fallen brick rubble between bldgs & on pavements, rubble heaps on demolition sites. Business furniture, rubbish, heaped in a carpark.


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Red digger claw & yellow digger, Feb 22 quake damaged old, brick bldgs, St Asaph St, red zone National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Furniture & quake rubbish in carpark, St Asaph St, red zone, National State of Emergency


St Asaph St / Manchester St: Boxing Day Quake & Feb 22 Killer Quake damaged, 2 storey, Theme Basics ghost. Fallen brick parapet, brick rubble, fallen verandah awning cleared, steel mesh fence cordoned. Why not demolished post Sept 4 Darfield Quake. Post Feb 22 Killer Quake, the top storey was demolished to make the old, brick bldg safe. The ruin would eventually be demolished. By October a coffee caravan would briefly trade on the demolition site, then move to a better trading site on Cambridge Tce.


St Asaph St / Manchester St crossing view: Next to the drawing room, a modern bldg, several old, brick, 2 storey ghosts, were damaged by the Sept 4 Darfield Quake, trashed by the Feb 22 Killer Quake on Manchester St. Fallen brick, facade walls, roof spaces, rooms exposed, steel mesh fence cordoned. The bldgs would be demolished. N along Manchester St, 2 storey, brick, Majestic Theatre ghost, would be demolished. High rise ghosts, Holiday Inn & quake tilted Hotel Grand Chancellor behind would be demolished. Pre quakes engineers & builders had a road running under one side of Hotel Grand Chancellor. High rise, Rendezvous Hotel / Pacific Tower would survive the 2010-11 quakes. The drawing room too. (During quake times some survivor bldgs changed names, so I used the slash / punctuation mark to show old / new name of the bldg. Similarly, I used the slash punctuation mark to show street cnr roads).


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. St Asaph St view, Feb 22 quake trashed old, brick bldgs, Manchester St, red zone, National State of Emergency. The bldgs would be demolished


Five RNZAF soldiers guarded St Asaph St / Manchester St crossing. Changing the guard, they were picked up by a beige Unimog. The red zone CBD was riddled with cops & NZDF soldiers, banning citizens entering the CBD cordon. Military occupation & citizen banning would continue for 28 months, while CD then CERA demolished CBD bldgs. Quake disaster, then demolition disaster.


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. RNZAF soldier, St Asaph St / Manchester St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Yellow, Hi-Vis vested soldiers. Unimog transport for changing of the guard, Feb 22 quake cordon, St Asaph St / Manchester St, red zone, National State of Emergency

Manchester St red zone: Compared to the Sept 4 Darfield Quake, I saw many more old, brick ghosts trashed by the Feb 22 Killer Quake. St Asaph St / Manchester St: A yellow digger heaped demolition brick rubble. Detached red digger claw, shop rubbish, carpets, plastic model's head on pavement. Manchester St / Tuam St, old, brick Peaches & Cream ghost stood firm, other bldgs worse, fallen parapets, fallen bricks walls, exposed rooms, steel mesh fence cordoned. But all those old, brick ghosts, incl Peaches & Cream would be demolished. Manchester St was cleaned, rubble removed, but many bldgs still needed demolitions. Some had top storeys removed making them safe. That was before CERA went demolition bonkers. Post quakes, Manchester St's red light strip would not survive, due to CERA's demolitions & CERA's Blueprint E Frame Rauora Park.


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged old, brick bldg, St Asaph St, red zone, National State of Emergency



01.04.11. Feb 22 quake, orange, plastic, road cone cordoned St Asaph St, pre quake very busy, seen from Colombo St crossing, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Olive military vehicle, Bike HQ, St Asaph St / Colombo St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cone, steel mesh fence cordoned St Asaph St, pre quake very busy, seen from Colombo St crossing, red zone, National State of Emergency

St Asaph St: Trekked W, past ghosts, loose brick parapets & brick chimneys, brick rubble between bldgs, steel mesh fence cordoned, to St Asaph St / Colombo St crossing, a hell hole: brick dust, collapsed, demolished bldgs. S, yellow painted, cnr Dick Smith had survived the Feb 22 Killer Quake, so too N opp cnr bldg, Anderson & Hill Sports Power, under which NZDF soldiers in a makeshift, blue tarp hut guarded the steel mesh fence cordon. S on Colombo St, behind Dick Smith, a yellow digger on top of demolition rubble dumped rubble into a truck, orange, plastic road coned, steel mesh fence cordoned.

Fourteen months later, dusty Dick Smith & Sports Power would still be closed, surviving quick demolitions, but slow CBD recovery during CERA's occupation.


01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cone, steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake abandoned Dick Smith, St Asaph St / Colombo St, red zone, National State of Emergency

01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Yellow digger, post Feb 22 quake demolition site next to Dick Smith, Colombo St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Feb 22 quake broken window, St Asaph St / Colombo St, red zone, National State of Emergency

St Asaph St / Colombo St: S, diag opp the NZDF soldiers' hut, an olive military vehicle passed Bike HQ, another quake survivor. Next door, fallen window, broken glass, NO ENTRY, yellow, spray-painted on the pavement. N, steel mesh fence cordon across Colombo St, 4 NZDF soldiers hovered. W, opp the soldiers' makeshift, blue tarp hut, 2 storey, cnr brick ghost bldgs, were destroyed, continuing N past Mollett St for a whole block to Tuam St: fallen brick walls, rooms, contents, roof spaces exposed, bldgs demolished, brick rubble & bldg contents on pavement & road. Masses of quake trashed, demolished bldgs on Colombo St. N along Colombo St, no access, red zone cordon, there were damaged & demolished bldgs to the airbridge by The Crossing.

21.05.11. After the coroner had released all names of the 182 dead [later increased to 185] & cops had released details of where people had died, The Press would report that after the 18 PGC multi-storey deaths & 115 CTV multi-storey deaths in the CBD, the N section of Colombo St from St Asaph St to just beyond Tuam St was the next deadliest: 16 dead, incl 8 dead on the red bus No 702.


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. NZDF soldiers' blue tarp hut, N view, Feb 22 quake destroyed & demolished bldgs down Colombo St from St Asaph St to Tuam St crossings, & beyond to The Crossing, red zone, national state of emergency. 16 people died there.



01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. NZDF soldiers' blue tarp hut, Colombo St / St Asaph St, red zone, National State of Emergency. Quake trashed bldgs would be demolished


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. NZDF cordon soldiers, St Asaph St / Colombo St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged, old, brick bldgs, Colombo St, by Tuam St & Lichfield St crossings, seen from St Asaph St cordon, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake destroyed & demolished bldgs, Colombo St from St Asaph St to Tuam St crossings & beyond, red zone, National State of Emergency. 16 people died there


01.04.11. Feb 22 quake, St Asaph St cordon view down Colombo St: Tuam St, Lichfield St, Cashel St crossings, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged, old, brick shops & flats, Colombo St / St Asaph St, red zone, National State of Emergency. The ruins would be demolished



01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. St Asaph St view, Feb 22 quake destruction of backs of bldgs at Colombo St / St Asaph St crossing, red zone, National State of Emergency. The ruins would be demolished


W along St Asaph St to Durham St Sth: Red stickered, St John HQ, DANGER KEEP CLEAR, yellow, spray-painted on a wall, orange, plastic road coned, steel mesh fence cordoned. Bad news for St John, as it relied on charity donations. I turned back E along St Asaph St, as I'd already walked Durham St Sth in zone 1. I wanted to snap Madras St crossing & new angles to the quake destruction & demolitions I'd passed.


01.04.11. Orange, plastic, coad cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged St John, St Asaph St / Durham St South, red zone, National State of Emergency


St Asaph St: NZDF cordon soldiers at crossings, several workmen in Hi-Vis vests. 2 CD, NZRT workers, wearing blue / red overalls & hard hats, took pics, while escorting 2 engineer bldg inspectors wearing black overalls, hard hats. One bldg inspector wore a dust mask. Sparse traffic weaved past orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordons. Less pedestrians, businesses abandoned.


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. NZRT taking pics while escorting a bldg inspector, St Asaph St, red zone, National State of Emergency


Looked into a deep excavation where a huge pipe & smaller connections were being fixed. It was about 1m diameter, buried about 4m under St Asaph St. That fence cordoned excavation had obstructed traffic since the 04.09.10 Darfield Quake. It would continue obstructing traffic until early 2012.


Further on, behind a steel mesh fence cordon, old Tuam St Council ghost, many windows smashed. Months later the windows would be boarded. The old Council multi-storey would be demolished for the new Bus Interchange.


01.04.11. Red digger claw, Feb 22 quake, Manchester St demolition site, seen from cnr St Asaph St, red zone, National State of Emergency

01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Yellow digger demolishing a bldg, Feb 22 quake trashed, old brick bldgs, Manchester St, between St Asaph St & Welles St crossings. The bldgs would be demolished


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence codon. Orange, Hi-Vis vested workman, yellow digger demolishing a brick bldg, St Asaph St / Manchester St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Model head on rubbish carpets & quake rubble, Manchester St, demolished Red Light area, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Feb 22 quake trashed bldgs, Manchester St, red zone, National State of Emergency. The bldgs would be demolished


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. 2 NZRTs, 2 bldg inspectors, St Asaph St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged bldgs, St Asaph St, red zone, National State of Emergency. Old PO / Alice in Videoland & IRD bldg behind

01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake trashed McKenzie Willis bldg, St Asaph St. The bldg would be demolished

01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Orange, Hi-Vis vested, bldg inspectors by Feb 22 quake trashed bldg, St Asaph St. Bldg would be demolished



St Asaph St / High St / Madras St crossing, deserted views: High St to high-rise ghosts, incl Hotel Grand Chancellor; Madras St to ghosts damaged in the Sept 4 Darfield Quake & Boxing Day Quake, trashed in the Feb 22 Killer Quake. CBD had a creepy feeling again. Dust unsettled, death too close. Ghosts haunted, teetering in aftershocks, CERA demolishers coming.


01.04.11. Yellow digger, demolition site, St Asaph St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Orange, Hi-Vis vested, bldg inspectors, St Asaph St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.1. Steel mesh fence cordon. Yellow digger, demolition site, St Asaph St / Madras St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. S view, Madras St from St Asaph St / Madras St crossing, red zone, National State of Emergency. Port Hills behind


01.04.11. White, plastic, tape cordon. CPIT, Christchurch Polytechnic, St Asaph St / Madras St, red zone, National State of Emergency

Rubberneckers wandered that gloomy, drizzly morning: 2 old men at Manchester St cordon; a woman videoing at Madras St cordon; a male cyclist & another man at High St cordon, staring at High St junk. All CBD red zone crossings, little traffic: Stood in the middle of crossings (pre Feb 22 Killer Quake teeming) taking all round snaps. Pre Feb 22 Killer Quake I would've been run over. My red zone lasting impressions: creepy feelings; ghost bldgs; ghost streets behind ROAD CLOSED, NO ENTRY, steel mesh fence cordons, guarded by NZDF soldiers & cops.


01.04.11. NO ENTRY. Orange, plastic, road cone cordon. W view, St Asaph St to Manchester St crossing, seen from Madras St / High St crossing, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. St Asaph St / Madras St crossing view, High St red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. St Asaph St / High St / Madras St, red zone, National State of Emergency. N view to cordoned Tuam St & Lichfield St

01.04.11. St Asaph St / Madras St crossing, N view, Madras St, red zone, National State of Emergency. High rise IR bldg behind would survive the quakes, but most other quake trashed, brick bldgs in the pic would be demolished



01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. NZDF soldiers' blue tarp hut, red zone cordon, NZDF soldier directing girls, St Asaph St / Madras St, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. ROAD CLOSED. White / orange, plastic bollards, steel mesh fence cordon. St Asaph St, yellow vehicle wash, to remove dust, near Ferry Rd fork, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. White, plastic bollards, steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged bldg, St Asaph St near Ferry Rd fork, red zone, National State of Emergency

Madras St: Steel mesh fence cordoned, ghost bldgs, ghost street. Workman, wearing a Hi-Vis jacket in the red zone, fixed telephone cables. Edward Gibbon, 2 storey, fallen brick parapet, fallen upper brick wall, rooms, roof space exposed. Madras St / Tuam St, opp Mobil garage ghost & another 2 storey: fallen brick parapets & brick facade, rooms, contents exposed, brick rubble on pavement, steel mesh fence cordoned. N up Madras St, Nurse Maude, brick 2 storey, 2 layers of shipping containers stopping brick facade falling. 

E along St Asaph St: Trekked past a yellow, vehicle wash (removed toxic dust) in the middle of the road. Walked past closed tech bldgs, steel mesh fence cordoned, guarded by a NZDF soldier directing 3 girls by his blue tarp hut.

St Asaph St / Ferry Rd fork: More brick ghosts: Council, blue painted, brick bldg, fallen brick facade, collapsed roof, rubble on carpark, steel mesh fence cordoned. Yellow stickered! Next door, 2 storey, white painted, brick bldg, cracked, brick walls, fallen top storey, cnr walls, brick rubble on pavement, steel mesh fence cordoned. Orange, HAMBURG SUD container next to side wall, stopping bldg collapse. A white, Bobcat digger & two bigger, yellow diggers completed demolishing a brick bldg in clouds of dust opp the tech. Fearing asbestos dust, I strode past 2 red overalled, NZRT blokes to Barbadoes St.

Steel mesh fence cordon, demolition site sign:

                DANGER
ASBESTOS REMOVAL IN
               PROGRESS
               KEEP OUT...


01.04.11 DANGER. Asbestos threat sign, steel mesh fence cordon. Demolition site, St Asaph St & Ferry Rd fork, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Council yellow sticker on steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake collapsed, brick bldg, St Asaph St by Ferry Rd fork, red zone, National State of Emergency. The bldg would be demolished


01.04.11. Yellow digger demolishing a brick bldg, St Asaph St / Ferry Rd fork, red zone, National State of Emergency. Quake trashed, RC Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament backdrop. The dome would be removed by crane, the cathedral part deconstructed & abandoned for 10 years until 2021 demolition



01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Red overalled NZRT, St Asaph St, nr Barbadoes St crossing, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. N view, Barbadoes St, from St Asaph St / Barbadoes St crossing, red zone, National State of Emergency

01.04.11.Orange, plastic, road cones, steel fence cordon. S view, Barbadoes St, from St Asaph St / Barbadoes St crossing, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. NZDF cordon soldiers guarding SW cnr St Asaph St / Barbadoes St, red zone, National State of Emergency

St Asaph St / Barbadoes St crossing: GIVE WAY. 2 storey, brick, Community of the Sacred Name, Anglican Convent, serial trashed by the Sept 4 Darfield Quake & Boxing Day Quake, collapsible post Feb 22 Killer Quake: Fallen brick parapets & gable brick walls, front, sides & back, exposing roof spaces, attics, brick rubble on pavements, orange, plastic, road coned, steel mesh fence cordoned. Two red overalled, NZRT blokes gawped in the middle of the crossing, while 3 NZDF soldiers & a yellow, Hi-Vis jacketed cop moved road cones, guarding the crossing. The Convent would be demolished post June 13 Quake. Why did authorities take so long? Post quakes, a surviving Convent, brick bldg would become the Good Habit cafe.

Diagonally opp the crossing, a demolition site grew weeds post Sept 4 Darfield Quake & Boxing Day Quake. Maroon Judo dojo, wood braced, survived the Feb 22 Killer Quake.

01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Brick Community of the Sacred Name, Anglican Convent, damaged by Sept 4 & Boxing Day quakes, trashed by the Feb 22 Killer Quake, St Asaph St / Barbadoes St, red zone, National State of Emergency. 2 hard hatted, red overalled, NZRT blokes in the middle of the crossing. The Convent would be demolished post June 13 quake

01.04.11. GIVE WAY. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Cop & 3 NZDF soldiers manning St Asaph St / Madras St crossing checkpoint, red zone, National State of Emergency. Brick, Community of the Sacred Name, Anglican Convent, damaged by the Sept 4 & Boxing Day quakes, trashed by the Feb 22 quakes, would be demolished post June 13 quake

01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged bldg, St Asaph St, near Barbadoes St crossing, red zone, National State of Emergency



01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake trashed brick bldg, henry's carpark, Barbadoes St / St Asaph St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Feb 22 quake bricked car, henry's carpark, between St Asaph St & Tuam St, red zone, National State of Emergency

Cut through an alley by henry's carpark to Tuam St, 2 brick ghosts: fallen brick parapets, fallen brick wall, brick rubble in carpark, steel mesh fence cordoned. Henry's, partially repaired, a quake trashed, white car parked outside, windscreen smashed, DO NOT TOW printed on the scrunched bonnet. When I'd passed a couple of weeks before from Fitzgerald Ave, Tuam St was undulated, silt dust flying.


01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Tuam St / Barbadoes St cordon view, Feb 22 quake trashed Hotel Grand Chancellor. Westpac & Holiday Inn left, red zone, National State of Emergency. The high rises would be demolished


01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Olive military vehicle behind cordon fence, Tuam St / Barbadoes St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordons. Zone 2, post Feb 22 quake repairs, Tuam St, National State of Emergency. For weeks post Feb 22 quake Tuam St undulated, due to liquefaction damage, silt dust whipped up by winds. E view, seen from red zone, Tuam St / Barbadoes St crossing


01.04.11. Olive military vehicle passing a Feb 22 quake trashed, demolished Provincial Hotel, Barbadoes St / Cashel St, seen from Tuam St / Barbadoes St crossing, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Tuam St / Barbadoes St, W view, Feb 22 quake trashed Tuam St bldgs, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Tuam St / Barbadoes St view, Feb 22 quake trashed Madras St bldg, red zone, National State of Emergency. Edward Gibbon would be demolished

Tuam St / Barbadoes St: ROAD CLOSED. Red zone, fence cordon on Tuam St, by a garage, open for business, no clients yet. Viewed Barbadoes St, only an olive, military vehicle patrolled. Madras St : Edward Gibbon plumbing, fallen brick parapet & facade, roof spaces exposed. Tuam St: 2 storey, brick bldg: fallen gable, brick facade, ceilings, rooms exposed. Across a Barbadoes St, steel mesh fence cordoned, carpark, CBD high-rise ghosts: Collapsed, burnt out, CTV where 115 people died. (My first view of CTV ruin since the Feb 22 Killer Quake, due to the National State of Emergency forbidding citizen access to Christchurch CBD). Behind, more CBD high-rises: Pacific Tower / Rendezvous Hotel, PWC, Newstalk ZB. Opp CTV, scaffolded, St Pauls Pacific Presbyterian Church. CTV, PWC, St Pauls would be demolished. Newstalk ZB would be imploded, August 2012. Pacific Tower / Rendezvous Hotel would survive the quakes.


01.04.11. Barbadoes St view, red zone CBD: scaffolded, St Pauls Pacific Presbyterian Church, collapsed, burnt out, CTV bldg. Behind, Pacific Tower / Rendezvous Hotel, PWC, Newstalk ZB. All except Pacific Tower would be demolished

Back at Barbadoes St / St Asaph St cordon crossing, riddled with NZDF soldiers & military vehicles, I asked a squint, Maori cop if I could walk S down Barbadoes St, as my car was parked at Wordsworth St. He agreed, unnerving, staring at me, looking away simultaneously. Chameleon.


01.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake damaged bldg, St Asaph St, backdropped by quake damaged RC Cathedral & Music Centre of Christchurch, red zone, National State of Emergency

01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence crdon. NZDF soldiers, Sept 4, Boxing Day & Feb 22 quake trashed, brick, Community of the Sacred Name, Anglican Convent, St Asaph St / Barbadoes St, red zone, National State of Emergency. The Convent would be demolished post June 13 quake

01.04.11. Steel fence cordon. Quake damaged, wood braced, Martial Arts School, Barbadoes St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cone cordon. 2 cranes. 3 NZDF soldiers yomping to CBD cordon duty, Ferry Rd / Barbadoes St, red zone, National State of Emergency. Quake trashed RC Cathedral left


01.04.11. Orange, plastic fence, steel mesh fence cordon, Barbadoes St, red zone, National State of Emergency. The Music Centre would be demolished






Barbadoes St: 3 NZDF soldiers yomped N to cordon duty. Red stickered, Music Centre of Christchurch: fallen brick parapets, gables, exposed roof spaces, black & blue tarped, steel mesh fence cordoned. Music Centre would be demolished.

Christchurch Basilica: Cracked, concrete brick, Oamaru whitestone clad, copper dome base cracked, collapsed twin towers, exposed tower rooms. Brown shipping containers, yellow crane truck, orange, plastic, road coned, steel mesh fence cordoned in front of Christchurch Basilica. During Feb 22 Killer Quake, in a room below the collapsed N tower, a Virgin Mary statue had turned 180 degrees, facing a Barbadoes St window. Miracle? Christchurch Basilica dome would be removed by crane, stumps of the 2 collapsed towers & transepts would be braced by stacked shipping containers, while Christchurch Basilica was part deconstructed. Stacked shipping containers would prop Christchurch Basilica for 10 years, until 2021 demolition.


01.04.11. RC Cathedral, damaged by the Sept 4 quake, trashed by the Feb 22 quake, Barbadoes St, red zone, National State of Emergency. The dome would be removed by crane, the RC Cathedral deconstructed, then abandoned for 10 years, propped by layered containers, until 2021 demolition




01.04.11. Virgin Mary statue turned 180 degrees during the Feb 22 quake, facing Barbadoes St, when the RC Cathedral tower collapsed above the statue, red zone, National State of Emergency








Back at Barbadoes St / Moorhouse Ave crossing, I greeted the yellow, Hi-Vis jacketed, female cop, beside her wooden hut & 4 blue portaloos. "I've done the full circuit."

"Now you know," she replied.


01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Checkpoint, wooden cop hut, 4 blue portaloos, Barbadoes St / Moorhouse Ave, red zone, National State of Emergency

CBD red zone: Five weeks post Feb 22 Killer Quake, during the National State of Emergency, few citizens were allowed into the red zone. Once the National State of Emergency was over, CERA would take over from CD, continuing demolishing Christchurch red zone, CBD ghosts till little was left.


01.04.11. Barbadoes St cnr view, gridlock traffic, Moorhouse Ave, National State of Emergency. Old brick station & clock tower, damaged by Sept 4 & Feb 22 quakes. The station would be demolished, August 2012

CBD residents & business people were hassled by cops & NZDF soldiers at cordon checkpoints, needing permission to access their own homes & businesses in the red zone, which was banned & sanitized during the National State of Emergency by prohibitions, demolitions, rubble haulage, road clearing, quakemire clearing, steel mesh fence cordons, orange, plastic, road cone cordons, white or red or yellow, plastic tape cordons & red & white, plastic bollards. Post CD occupation, a plethora of new road signs & CERA signs at cordon checkpoints would pollute the red zone CBD during 28 months of CERA / military occupation. Initially, shocked citizens would accept CBD bannings, before dissent in 2012 street protests.


01.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Yellow, Hi-Vis jacketed cop at cordon checkpoint, wooden hut, Moorhouse Ave / Barbadoes St, red zone, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Grey portaloo. Steel mesh fence cordon, obstructing traffic, Waltham Rd, National State of Emergency


01.04.11. Waltham Rd view, quake braced bldg, Wordsworth St, National State of Emergency

*Trekked Wordsworth St, Waltham Rd, Barbadoes St, Moorhouse Ave, Madras St, Southwark St, St Asaph St, Tuam St. 195 snaps.

Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.