Snowy CBD Demolitions

Snowy, northern CBD demolitions focus. Mon 15.08.11. Six months post 22 February 2011 Quake, Christchurch CBD was still occupied by CERA & NZDF. CBD was still steel-mesh-fence-cordoned, checkpointed by NZDF-soldiers at various crossings. Although three months before, on 1 May the National State-of-Emergency ended, NZDF-soldiers still banned citizens from Christchurch's cordoned-CBD. A favoured few were allowed entry, CERA contractors & demolishers. Whenever I saw the desolate CBD-cordon, more demolitions had happened. Post 4 September 2010 Quake, demolishers demolished ruins, then speeded up demolitions post 22 February 2011 Quake.

Post National State-of-Emergency handover by Civil Defence, CERA was already threateningSummit Rd cyclists riding past fallen-rock-cordons with the law & threatening business persons to make swifter demolitions decisions. Never mind insurers were obstacles to fast demolitions & rebuilds, moaning about risk. Why didn't CERA hasten insurers' settlements?

Council recently published its draft Central City Plan, a snow job for CBD-rebuild on quaked CBD-swampland. Mayor Parker & councillors wanted to rebuild a smaller, greener CBD.

Considering 1 000s of people having to abandon their red-zoned houses, then buying land again & rebuilding again, Council's idea of an expensive light-rail was mad! Running a fast bus-system was a priority. My adult sons wasted many hours waiting for slow buses, especially at night.

Some councillors went on a free trip to San Francisco, viewing post-quake rebuild there & reckoned that qualified them for Christchurch's rebuild. Christ Church Cathedral dean oinked about a temporary Cardboard Cathedral, costing millions. The dean would soon resign & briefly become a councillor.

Council management, staff & councillors had an entitlement ethos: free lunches, free coffees, parties, booze-ups, gifts & for councillors overseas trips & Council business-directorships, all from ratepayers' purse. Never mind quaked citizens struggling to make ends meet.

For rebuild there was safer land at alluvial-shingled western Christchurch. Why repeat seedy "Heritage" mistakes at citizens' expense in Christchurch's CBD? Although Council continued to ask for citizens' ideas on a CBD-rebuild, a rebuild on old CBD-swampland was flawed as Geotech reporting was missing in the Central City Plan. Never mind the Christchurch Fault which damaged Christchurch's CBD in the Boxing Day Quake!

Mon 15.08.11. Two months post 13 June 2011 Quake, when NZ was polar-blasted, it hailed & snowed intermittently in Christchurch. Late that snowy afternoon, I drove along the CBD's northern steel-mesh-fence-cordon, testing my new Samsung digital-camera on snowy ruins & snowy demolitions.


15.08.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Snowy demolition, roof rip off, St Lukes Anglican Church, Manchester St / Kilmore St, post June 13 quake


Snow masked ruins, demolitions & quakemire. Snow flattered quakescapes, but soon sludged.


15.08.11. Snowy demolition, roof rip off, St Lukes Anglican Church, Manchester St / Kilmore St, post June 13 quake




Snowy Manchester St / Kilmore St: Demolition of St Lukes Anglican Church roof which stood on the ground by demolition rubble. St Lukes demolition site banner:

Grace Works
Demolitions & Recycling

I trekked eastwards along snowy Kilmore St, past St Lukes & snapped 22 February 2011 ghost-houses, still with USAR / TF graffiti, brightly contrasting against snow. A steel gate with a Council's red-sticker:

      DANGER
DO NOT ENTER


15.08.11. White, plastic, tape cordon. Snowy, quake damaged house, by St Lukes Anglican Church demolition, Kilmore St, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. Blue portaloo & snowy eastwards view, Kilmore St, towards Madras St cordon, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. White, plastic, tape cordon. Snowy, quake damaged housing, Kilmore St, nr St Lukes Anglican Church, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. Taiwan USAR / TF graffiti, Kilmore St, post June 13 quake

Snowy Kilmore St eastwards view: Madras St crossing cordon & Fire Service ruin with its plastic-tunnel-house for fire engines blocking Kilmore St. Oxford Tce Baptist Church was gone, demolished.


15.08.11. Feb 22 quake & June 13 quake, snowy, quake damaged, Cancer Society bldg, Manchester St


15.08.11. EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT.  Steel mesh fence cordon. Manchester St westwards view, Kilmore St snow cordon, towards Colombo St crossing, post June 13 quake. Most of the bldgs in the pic would be demolished

Snowy Westwards view, Kilmore St:  Pristine cordon-fencing bordering ruins all the way to Colombo St crossing. The ruins would be demolished. A steel-mesh-fence-cordon's threat-sign:

EXTREME
 DANGER
    KEEP
    OUT



15.08.11. Manchester St, steel mesh fence cordon view across Global Living & PGC bldg demolition. 18 people died when the PGC bldg collapsed in the Feb 22 quake. Empty CBD high rises beyond. Most of the bldgs in the pic would be demolished


Down snowy Manchester St, I snapped Global Living's demolition-site near PGC's demolition-site on Cambridge Tce, where 18 people died in PGC's multi-storey collapse during the 22 February 2011 Quake. Two diggers were parked on PGC demo-site snow. On PGC's steel-mesh-fence-cordon, a disrespectful sign:

   SALE
NOW ON

Idiots! I's seen stupid adverts like that on a Colombo St fence-cordon near where people died in the quake.


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Manchester St view, diggers parked on snowy PGC bldg demolition. 18 people died when the PGC bldg collapsed in the Feb 22 Killer Quake. Empty CBD high rises beyond

Snowy Manchester St Bridge: A NZDF-soldier slunk from his wooden-hut. He checkpointed SUVs leaving the CBD-cordon. There were no demolitions in the cordoned-CBD that day: soft snow was too hard for digger-operators & steel-diggers!


15.08.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon, wooden checkpoint hut. Manchester St / Cambridge Tce, red zone, NZDF checkpoint, post June 13 quake. Dead CBD bldgs beyond


Snowy Peterborough St demolitions: In a hail-shower, while dodging snow-sludge, I snapped two wooden-ruins, half-demolished, masked by snow. Across the road, by boarded Medlab's ruin (later demolished) an office-ruin demolition against a white-sky backdrop. That Kilmore St, demolition could be seen from Peterborough St  cordon & Colombo St cordon. Another steel-mesh-fence-cordon's threat-sign:

EXTREME
 DANGER
    KEEP
     OUT


15.08.11. Snowy house, part demolition, Peterborough St, post June 13 quake. The ruin would be demolished







15.08.11. Hail storm, snowy Peterborough St, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Snowy Medlab carpark view, demolition next door, Peterborough St, post June 13 quake. Medlab would be demolished


15.08.11. EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT. Peterborough St view, a Kilmore St demolition, CBD snow cordon, post June 13 quake


Snowy quakescapes: Colombo St / Kilmore St: A demolition-site where Forte Health would be built. Northwards, gawping cars sludged past a small block of Colombo St  ruined-shops, including Whisky Galore & Mr Sushi. The ruined-shops were dead-ended by a demolition-site. The shops would be demolished.


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Snowy, quake damaged shops, dead-ended by demolition sites, Colombo St, post June 13 quake. The shops would be demolished


Eastwards, snowy Kilmore St demolitions, fence-cordoned all the way to Manchester St crossing: looming ghosts, surreal. Yellow daffodils hung on a demolition site's steel-mesh-fence-cordon. A cordon-fence's threat-sign:

NOTICE

THIS IS A MULTIPLE
HAZARD AREA

PERSONS ENTERING THIS PROPERTY
MUST COMPLY WITH ALL SAFETY
REGULATIONS UNDER THE

HEALTH AND SAFETY IN
EMPLOYMENT ACT 1992
AND ITS AMENDMENTS

DO NOT ENTER

WITHOUT PERMISSION AND
NOTIFICATION OF THE
HAZARDS WITHIN

 CERA's apartheid reigned supreme in Christchurch's CBD.

15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Red skip, orange & yellow diggers. Snowy demolition, Colombo St / Kilmore St, post June 13 quake

Southwards, down steel-mesh-fence-cordoned, snowy Colombo St, I saw Christ Church Cathedral's collapsed tower. Yellow flowers hung on the steel-mesh-fence-cordon.


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Snow cordoned Colombo St / Kilmore St crossing view, Colombo St to Christ Church Cathedral collapsed tower, post June 13 quake. Most bldgs in the pic would be demolished


Westwards, snowy Kilmore St ghosts: Town Hall, Convention Centre, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Copthorne Hotel, all steel-mesh-fence-cordoned. Their facades looked OK from afar, but they awaited repairs, or demolitions, or rebuilds.


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordoned, Kilmore St / Colombo St, dead Town Hall right, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. Colombo St crossing, western view, snow cordoned Kilmore St. Quake trashed Town Hall left. Beyond Crowne Plaza Hotel & Copthorne Hotel awaited demolition, post June 13 quake

Late afternoon, snowy Victoria St / Salisbury St crossing: A demolition-site. Jubilee Clock Tower's steel, gold-painted-stars glinted in front of Victoria Mansions's cracked facade. Multi-storey Strategy's demolition-site was on the opposite corner. Another glassy-facaded building was gone, demolished. An orange digger was parked on snow.


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Strategy bldg, snowy demolition, Victoria St / Salisbury St, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. Snowy Victoria St / Salisbury St / Montreal St crossing. Quake damaged, Jubilee Clock Tower & Victoria Mansions behind, post June 13 quake


15.08.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Parked, orange digger, snowy demolition, Victoria St / Salisbury St, post June 13 quake


Hypothermic, I drove home to snowy Burnside, my car-heater going full-blast.

My new Samsung camera zoomed 5x giving more magnitude, opposed to my kaput Nikon's 4x.

Monday night it snowed more. Tuesday Christchurch, Port Hills were covered in snow.br />
*Trekked Manchester St, Kilmore St, Peterborough St, Colombo St, Victoria St. 67 snaps.

Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.

See CERA Demolitions