Post 4 September 2010 Quake, M7.1, I'd trekked the State-of-Emergency's steel-mesh-fence-cordon down Colombo St & snapped old, brick ruins. The steel-mesh-fence-cordon then was checkpointed at Elgin St & Carlyle St crossings by cops & NZDF-soldiers. Some ruins were demolished quickly. Some ruins stayed empty for months, rubble blocking footpaths, steel-mesh-fence-cordons blocking traffic.
Post 22 February 2011 Quake, M6.3, I'd trekked parallel Buchan St & Durham St Sth to see the National State-of- Emergency steel-mesh-fence-cordon strangling Colombo St, Sydenham. The steel-mesh-fence-cordon was checkpointed at crossings by few cops & more NZDF-soldiers, all the way from Brougham St to Carlyle St crossings.
At that late February time, many Colombo St ruins needed demolishing still. Pity they weren't demolished post 4 September 2010 Quake, as someone was killed at Tasty Tucker Bakery, Colombo St, by the 22 February 2011 Quake! After that quake which killed 185 people, Colombo St, Sydenham demolitions speeded up.
Brougham St / Colombo St: Two-storey ruin: Old, brick, Blue Jean Cuisine Restaurant & Bar, wood-braced & steel-braced, fence- cordoned. The back was trashed, brick-rubble lay behind a steel-mesh-fence-cordon, the back-wall was yellow / red plastic-tarped. The ruin would be demolished.
21.07.11. Red / yellow tarp. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake damaged Blue Jean Cuisine, Colombo St / Brougham St, Sydenham. The bldg would be demolished
Opposite corner, Sydenham Heritage Church ruin: Stone rubble-heap, steel-mesh-fence-cordoned, business-signs hung on the fence. The old, stone- church was damaged by the 4 September 2010 Quake. Owners of the Heritage site accused Council of giving Civil Defence permission to demolish post 22 February 2011 Quake, during the National State-of-Emergency. Pre-quakes, the derelict church was empty for years, a death-trap eyesore on busy Brougham St.
A sign on the church rubble-heap
Property of
Sydenham
Heritage
Trust
2016. The weedy rubble-heap would be removed.
2021. Heritage Trust would ask for donations to build a new Sydenham Community Centre on the demolition-site.
21.07.11. Quake damaged & demolished Sydenham Heritage Church, Brougham St / Colombo St, Sydenham
Colombo St / Elgin St: WINZ five-storey, concrete & glass ruin: crumbled concrete-pillar-bases, Colombo St main entrance. Cracked corners on upper concrete-floors. WINZ would be demolished. A new office-block would replace it.
21.07.11. Quake damaged WINZ bldg, Elgin St / Colombo St, Sydenham
WINZ door-sign:
Work and Income
...
A service of the Ministry of Social Development
Following the 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake
this office is now closed until further notice
If you require help from Work and Income phone...
You can also get assistance at the following Service Centres open during normal office hours:
*Hornby Service Centre...
*Rangiora Service Centre...
*Riccarton Service Centre...
*Kaiapoi Community Link...
*Shirley Service Centre...
*Linwood Community Link...
*New Brighton Service Centre...
*Ashburton Community Link...
We had pre-quakes, bad memories of Sydenham WINZ: our letters were ignored, useless case-managers, slow-service, standover-tactics by a manager... Ineptitude of EQC & CERA made WINZ look saintly during quake times.
Colombo St: Opposite WINZ ruin: steel-mesh-fence-cordoned demolition-sites. A white shipping-container stood on the footpath, an Indian dairy shopkeeper traded from the shipping-container. Those sort of shanty-shops on demolition-sites soon evolved keeping businesses going.
21.07.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Colombo St, Sydenham demolition site & dairy in a shipping container
Other shanty-shops I saw: Bealey Ave / Papanui Rd, on old Carlton Hotel demolition-site, a mobile-pub on a trailer; Rossall St / Holmwood Rd, a porta-cabin-cafe on a demolition-site...
Colombo St / Wordsworth St: Steel-mesh-fence-cordoned demolition-site, where Ascot TV was ruined by the 4 September 2010 Quake.
Wordsworth St: Crown Masonic Centre ruin, trashed by the 22 February 2011 Quake, brick-wall peeled off, halls & roof-spaces exposed. The 13 June 2011 Quake collapsed the roof more. Five Hi-Vis vested workmen shirked on the footpath, while Crown Masonic Centre was demolished. Post-quakes, I saw many Hi-Vis vested workmen shirking at road-repairs, demolitions, building-repairs & rebuilds.
21.07.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Post quakes demolition site, Colombo St / Wordsworth St, Sydenham
21.07.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Post quakes Ascot TV demolition site, Wordsworh St / Colombo St, Sydenham. WINZ bldg behind right
21.07.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Four, orange, Hi-Vis vested workmen "supervising" post quake demolition in progress, Crown Masonic Centre, Wordsworth St, Sydenham
21.07.11. Playground view, quakes collapsed Crown Masonic Centre, Buchan St / Wordsworth St, Sydenham. Crown Masonic Centre would be demolished
Colombo St: Demolition-in-progress, a white-digger worked atop a pile of steel-mesh-fence-cordoned rubble, while two orange Hi-Vis vested workmen fiddled with a red-pipe sticking out of rubble, spouting water.
21.07.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Colombo St, Sydenham view, post quakes demolition site. Buchan St carpark beyond
21.07.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Colombo St, Sydenham post quakes demolition in progress
21.07.11. Quake damaged, boarded, steel mesh fence cordoned shops, Colombo St, Sydenham
Colombo St / Battersea St: Steel-mesh-fence-cordoned demolition-site, where 4 September 2010 Quake ruined Churchills Tavern once stood. Nearby: Bali Hai Imports Ltd & further down Colombo St, Penny Lane business. They were 4 September 2010 Quake ruins: gone, demolished.
21.07.11. Churchills Tavern, post Feb 22 quake demolition site, Colombo St / Battersea St, Sydenham. Churchills Tavern was 04.09.10 quake trashed
Colombo St / Sandyford St: Steel-mesh-fence-cordoned demolition-site where moss grew on quakemire volcanoes, where 4 September 2010 Quake ruined Angus Donaldson once stood.
21.07.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Angus Donaldson, post Feb 22 quake demolition site, Colombo St / Sandyford St, Sydenham. Angus Donaldson was 04.09.10 quake trashed
Colombo St / Byron St: Big demolition-site where 4 September 2010 Quake ruined Rob Roys once stood. Neighbouring Kaleidoscopes & Monumental Masons were ruined by the 4 September 2010 Quake. They were demolished. Other businesses were demolished too.
21.07.11. Post quakes demolition site, Colombo St / Byron St, Sydenham
21.07.11. Rob Roys, post Feb 22 quake demolition site, Colombo St / Byron St. Rob Roys, Kaleidoscopes, Monumental Masons, other Colombo St businesses were 04.09.10 quake trashed
Colombo St: Demolitions let light into darkness, where once old, brick buildings stood. After 10 months of quakes it was the busiest I'd seen Colombo St, Sydenham: traffic flowed & some shops were open despite demolitions.
Demolitions also exposed fresh walls for taggers, especially tilt-slab concrete-walls, already tagged on Colombo St demolition-sites. Authorities would try & quell taggers by allowing "art" on concrete tilt-slab walls. Over the next few years tagging would compete with "art" on newly exposed walls all over Christchurch.
Fri 22.07.11. Woken by a rumbling M5.1 quake, 40km west of Christchurch, 12km depth, 5.39am (GeoNet).
There was anti-Semitic reporting by media, slagging off three Israelis who'd died in the 22 February 2011 Quake: TV & The Weekend Press, July 23-24, 2011 reported that one of the Israelis had more than one passport (so what?) & that the surviving three Israelis had quickly left NZ after the 22 February 2011 Quake & that Security Intelligence Service, SIS was investigating those Israelis as spies.
That was like erroneous reporting for several days post 22 February 2011 Quake: 20 people dying in Christ Church Cathedral during the quake. It reminded me of North Island Maori camping in the bush years back, accused of being terrorists by bumbling cops.
On the afternoon of the 22 February 2011 Quake, I'd snapped foreign backpackers, like Israelis, & more upmarket tourists with suitcases skedaddling Bealey Ave / Madras St crossing, out of the quaked CBD, fleeing Christchurch. They fled on foot enabling vampires to suck up limited accommodation in Christchurch, like Aussie cops, foreign military, foreign USAR / TF teams, contractors from all over NZ.
That deadly, chaotic afternoon, I watched groups of workers flee the CBD on foot too, while quakemire oozed on footpaths & roadsides near buildings. Their cars were trapped in the CBD. I watched them walk out of the CBD on Bealey Ave & Fitzgerald Ave. Traffic was gridlocked on Bealey Ave while aftershocks jolted all afternoon. Traffic-lights weren't working while Civil Defence & cops directed traffic. Grey air stank from the burning CTV multi-storey.
For days afterwards near Christchurch airport, I experienced Greers Rd gridlock by Burnside HS near our home, due to foreigners fleeing Christchurch. During the post-quake National State-of-Emergency, Civil Defence designated Burnside HS an Evacuation Centre for tourists leaving Christchurch, so there was nothing unusual about three Israeli backpackers leaving. In their dreadful position I would've fled too.
*Trekked Colombo St. 36 snaps.
Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
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