In June, Christchurch red-zone-CBD was gapped by CERA opening Gloucester St to the public forming north & south red-zones. In the interim, I'd trekked red-zone-cordons in bits viewing many demolitions. It was time to see the southern red zone. I parked on Tuam St near demolished Poplar St where Jake had flatted pre-quakes at Poplar Mews. Poplar Mews was demolished & in 2026 was still a shingled carpark opposite Vanguard Sq.
16.11.12. Demolished Poplar St, S red zone. The bldgs would survived the quakes as restored Dux Central restaurant. The statue would not survive the quakes
Tuam St: I snapped the old PO where Alice in Videoland opened months before & more recently C1 coffee shop opened facing High St. I trekked broken High St. I saw southern red-zoning to Lichfield St was mostly demolition-sites. High St / Lichfield St: Majestic Theatre ruin awaited demolition in 2014. Beyond, I saw multi-storey Holiday Inn being demolished.
17.11.12. Tuam St view, post quake EPIC, Tuam St / Manchester St. Opp cnr part demolished Odeon Theatre
16.11.12. Tuam St view, post quake EPIC left, part demolished Odeon Theatre middle, C1 coffee shop (old PO) right
16.11.12. C1 coffee shop (old PO), Tuam St / High St
16.11.12. ROAD CLOSED. Steel mesh fence cordon. High St view, Holiday Inn demolition left, Majestic Theatre awaiting demolition right, S red zone
16.11.12. High St view, Holiday Inn demolition, S red zone
In the opposite direction, I trekked High St to St Asaph St. Hi-Vis vested workmen on scaffolding repaired McKenzie Willis facade which was propped by steel-bracing. I saw brick ruins along High St in the red-zone South Frame which was decayed after 12 000 quakes. There was rubbish in the buildings & partial collapses. A ruin near McKenzie Willis would soon collapse in a 07.12.12 fire.
16.11.12. McKenzie Willis facade restoration, Tuam St / High St, S red zone
16.11.12. Quake survivor bldg, High St, S red zone. The bldg would collapse in a 07.12.12 fire
16.11.12. Black skip. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake survivor bldg, High St, S red zone
Madras St: I trekked north past another view of Poplar St: A demolished-precinct wafting smells of demolished bars & demolished restaurants. I had another view of Holiday Inn demolition beyond.
16.11.12. Madras St, N view: NG Gallery right in CCDU's Blueprint stadium zone
16.11.12. Madras St view, Holiday Inn demolition, S red zone. Majestic Theatre awaited demolition front
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Madras St, N view: Demolition site, abandoned IR bldg left, red zone, S Frame. NG Gallery right in CCDU's Blueprint stadium zone
I trekked past revamped NG Gallery which obstructed CCDU's Blueprint, 35,000 seater, roofed stadium. But stadia were loss-makers & the proposed stadium would be built on Christchurch Fault, which damaged Christchurch CBD in the 26 December 2010 Boxing Day Quake. A decade post quakes, by October 2022 there would be the beginnings of construction work on the stadium, behind a solid steel-fence.
Madras St / Lichfield St crossing: I saw demolition-sites on all corners. on one corner, a broken wall stood with gaping windows, another wall was tagged. The opposite corner had Gap Filler art on a wall, other walls were also tagged.
Madras St / Bedford Row: From the old stable demolition-site behind IRD multi-storey ghost in the red-zone South Frame, I saw Holiday Inn demolition again. Bedford Row: New apartments would be built without garages, thus causing parking hassles on Bedford Row which would be shortened to accommodate East Frame / Rauora Park!
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Part demolished bldg, tagging, Madras St / Lichfield St
16.11.12. Gap Filler mural, tagging, Madras St / Lichfield St. Abandoned IR bldg left, red zone, S Frame
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Old stable demolition site, Madras St / Lichfield St, split between red zone, S Frame left, red zone, E Frame right
16.11.12. Old stable demolition site, Madras St / Bedford Row, abandoned IR bldg right, red zone E Frame
16.11.12. Orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Quake trashed, tagged bldg, awaited demolition for CCDU's Blueprint stadium, demolition site right, Madras St
Madras St / Cashel St crossing: 185 Empty Chairs Memorial to 185 dead in the 22 February 2011 Quake was relocated from Oxford Tce Baptist's demolition-site to St Pauls Trinity Pacific Presbyterian's demolition-site, diagonally opposite the CTV demolition-site. Nearby ruins were tagged, even the church building honouring quake-dead was tagged! Down Cashel St in the southern red-zone, I again saw multi-storey Holiday Inn demolition.
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Tribute to quake dead & tagging by St Pauls Trinity Pacific Presbyterian, demolition site, Cashel St / Madras St
16.11.12. Orange, plastic bollard cordon. 185 Empty Chairs Memorial to quake dead, St Pauls Trinity Pacific Presbyterian, demolition site, Madras St / Cashel St. CTV demo site, diag opp cnr
16.11.12. Tagging, Cashel St / Madras St
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Cashel St view, Holiday Inn demolition, S red zone
On the opposite corner, Holden Blackwells was demolished. By CTV's demolition-site in the red-zone, the steel-mesh-fence-cordon had floral tributes & pic tributes to the 115 dead. Beyond CTV's demolition-site, I saw Arrow House's demolition-site & more demolition-sites nudging Les Mills gym & Calendar Girls along Hereford St.
CERA still left CTV site a steel-mesh-fence-cordoned mess. Only three years post 22 February 2011 Quake, after complaints from families, just before the annual memorial service, CERA would improve the messy CTV site!
16.11.12. Orange, plastic bollard cordon. Steel mesh fence cordon. Floral tributes, pics to 115 dead, CTV demolition site, Cashel St / Madras St
Madras St / Hereford St: Concrete foundations were laid for the Anglican Cardboard Cathedral. Today the High Court quashed Heritage-hailers' pleas to save Christ Church Cathedral ruin & ensured the Anglican church had to use ruined cathedral insurance payout to pay for a new cathedral, merged with good bits of the old in Cathedral Sq. But that cordoned Christ Church Cathedral shenanigan would continue for years... In 2026, Christchurch Cathedral ruin, partly rebuilt, was still closed & abandoned due to poor funding & court-cases by whining Heritage-hailers like the Wizard!
16.11.12. Anglican Cardboard Cathedral foundations, St Johns demolition site, Madras St / Hereford St
Across Arrow House demolition-site I looked into the steel-mesh-fence-cordoned southern red-zone by Hereford St. 2019. That demolition-site would become Liverpool Terraces apartments. During post-quake years, many apartments would be built around CERA's Blueprint East Frame / Rauora Park.
16.11.12. Arrow House demolition site view, S red zone, Madras St / Hereford St. Torrens House left awaited demolition. Arrow House demo site would become Liverpool Terraces
16.11.12. SW cnr, Latimer Sq / Hereford St
16.11.12. Latimer Sq view, Hereford St into the S red zone. Calendar Girls left would be demolished for CERA's Blueprint E Frame / Rauora Park
16.11.12. Hereford St view, S red zone. Les Mills gym left
Latimer Sq / Worcester St: The Christchurch Club I saw was quake-damaged & part-demolished, mouldering behind a DANGER threat-sign on a locked gate. CERA's occupied CBD had become extremely unfriendly. The threat-sign continued: UNAUTHORISED PERSONS KEEP OUT. Formal threat-signs vs taggers' graffiti abounded in CERA's occupied CBD. The Bicycle Thief ruin on the opposite corner would be demolished for apartments built in 2021.
Worcester St: Taggers added graffiti to USAR / TF graffiti on Frenz Backpacker's ruined-wall & the Health Clinic's ruined-wall. The Heath Clinic's windows were broken, office floors were strewn with junk. The Christchurch Club would survive the quakes, but the other three buildings would be demolished for apartments built in 2021. I watched three workmen wearing orange Hi-Vis vests saunter down Worcester St towards Christ Church Cathedral ruin in the southern red-zone.
16.11.12. Quake trashed, abandoned, The Christchurch Club, Worcester St, S red zone. The Christchurch Club would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Abandoned, The Bicycle Thief, Worcester St, S red zone. The bldg would be demolished for apartments built in 2021
16.11.12. Hard hatted, Hi-Vis vested workmen, Worcester St, S red zone
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. USAR / TF graffiti & tagging, abandoned Frenz Backpackers, Worcester St, S red zone. The bldg would be demolished for apartments built in 2021
16.11.12. Quake trashed, abandoned Health Clinic, Worcester St, S red zone. The bldg would be demolished for apartments built in 2021
Worcester St / Manchester St: I trekked across Newstalk ZB's implosion-site to Westende House, which was rebuilt after collapsing in 4 September 2010 Quake. It was ground zero for TV news reports after that quake. (Brand new Westende House would be demolished in 2015 for widening of Manchester St in CERA's Blueprint East Frame / Rauora Park). In that big demolition-zone beside Manchester St, I was surrounded by demolition-sites. Behind the steel mesh fence cordon, I again saw multi-storey Holiday Inn demolition above the rest.
16.11.12. Worcester St, Newstalk ZB implosion site view, Pacific Tower / Rendezvous Hotel & red zone
16.11.12. Westende House rebuild, Manchester St / Worcester St. S red zone beyond. Westende House was trashed in the 04.09.10 quake & used as Ground Zero backdrop by media. In 2015 CERA / CCDU would demolish Westende House to widen Manchester St for CERA's Blueprint E Frame / Rauora Park
16.11.12. Worcester St view, Holiday Inn demolition, S red zone
On the diagonally opposite corner I saw the The Octagon / Trinity Church ghost, sans tower behind a red-zone steel-mesh-fence-cordon. I also saw multi-storey Design & Arts College ghost & abandoned Government Departmental Building. Across Worcester St on a demolition-site where a building had burned in the 4 September 2010 Quake, orange Hi-Vis vested workmen chomped their lunches near a Cathedral Junction wall which was splattered with orange paint by an artist who fantasized that he had improved that gap!
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. The Octagon / Trinity Church, sans tower, Design & Arts College, Worcester St / Manchester St, S red zone. Both bldgs would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Worcester St / Manchester St: Westende House view, S red zone bldgs: Government Departmental Building left, Heritage Hotel, Millennium Hotel / Distinction Hotel beyond left, Cathedral Junction right. All those bldgs would survive the quakes, except Westende House
16.11.12. Workmen at lunch, Manchester St demolition site. Government Departmental Building, Worcester St, in S red zone beyond, would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Manchester St view, demolition site & Gap Filler street art on Cathedral Junction wall, S red zone. The bldgs would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Manchester St / Worcester St view, The Octagon / Trinity Church, sans tower & S red zone. The Octagon / Trinity Church would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Pacific Tower / Rendezvous Hotel walls epoxy resin glued, Manchester St. Pacific Tower would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Demolition site, carpark & abandoned, multi-storey carpark, Manchester St / Gloucester St. The multi-storey carpark would be demolished, Sept 2015, for CERA's Blueprint E Frame / Rauora Park
16.11.12. The Wizard poster, demolition site carpark, Manchester St / Gloucester St
Demolition-sites along Manchester St were carparks for workmen. A white trailer sold food to workmen. A Wizard poster on a car:
DECONSTRUCT CERA
NOW!
WE WANT OUR CITY BACK
CERA made top-down decisions, sidelining Council & doing little consulting with citizens regarding CCDU's Blueprint anchor projects. Besides one bloated Council hierarchy, CERA's bloated bureaucracy was supposedly doing the job ratepayers elected Councillors & minions to do. Council vs CERA was a waste of ratepayers' & taxpayers' money!
North along Manchester St, in the red-zone next to the multi-storey carpark ruin, Orion utility building would survive the quakes. The multi-storey carpark ruin would be demolished in September 2015 for CERA's Blueprint East Frame / Rauora Park.
16.11.12. Faux pissoir. Steel mesh fence cordon. Manchester St / Gloucester St view, demolition site left. White bldg would be demolished for the Margaret Mahy Family Playground in CERA's Blueprint E Frame. Multi storey carpark right would be demolished for CERA's Blueprint E Frame / Rauora Park
16.11.12. Manchester St / Gloucester St view, Sampan House, Pacific Tower / Rendezvous House, Cathedral Junction, The Press new build. Those bldgs would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Manchester St / Gloucester St, W view, Pacific Tower / Rendezvous Hotel, Cathedral Junction, The Press new build. N red zone right. The bldgs would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Gloucester St, S view, demolition sites to Worcester St. The Octagon / Trinity Church, sans tower left, Design & Arts College middle & Gap Filler Street art, Cathedral Junction right, S red zone. The bldgs would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Manchester St / Gloucester St, demolition site view, N red zone. Abandoned BNZ beyond awaited demolition
Gloucester St: I trekked past closed Sampan House & past Pacific Tower / Rendezvous Hotel. Pacific Tower walls were spider-webbed by epoxy-resin repairs, then white-washed! Like so many epoxy-resin repairs to Christchurch's broken buildings, especially concrete tilt-slab buildings.
I saw more DANGER threat-signs on Cathedral Junction gates. New Regent St was steel-mesh-fence-cordoned in the red-zone. Workmen were busy restoring the Spanish Mission facades which would open in February 2013. The multi-storey BNZ ruin loomed behind awaiting demolition. But New Regent St "repairs" would have at least five Spanish Mission buildings not repaired for many years!
16.11.12. Cathedral Junction gates, S red zone, Gloucester St. Cathedral Junction would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. New Regent St restoration, N red zone. BNZ behind awaited demolition
I saw workmen shifting boards from a ute through The Press front door.
16.11.12. Workmen shifting a board into The Press, Gloucester St. Demolition site & abandoned Camelot Hotel in S red zone beyond. Camelot Hotel would be demolished for Central Library / Turanga rebuild
Red-zoned Isaac Theatre Royal was being restored: The facade was boarded & nylon-strapped & scaffolded. A side-wall was steel-braced. The Theatre auditorium was gutted, but the stage & flies looked OK. I watched a green-digger moving rubble beside the other side-wall.
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Gloucester St view, The Press left & Isaac Theatre Royal restoration, N red zone right
16.11.12. Isaac Theatre Royal restoration, Gloucester St, N red zone
The Press demolition-site & Warners Hotel demolition-site near abandoned Novotel in the southern red-zone became a carpark. Beyond in the red-zone I saw abandoned Government Departmental Building again & abandoned Heritage Hotel & abandoned Millennium Hotel / Distinction Hotel in Cathedral Sq. A crane hoisted orange Hi-Vis vested workmen in a crane-box up to Novotel multi-storey, which was being repaired.
16.11.12. Gloucester St view, The Press & Warners Hotel demolition sites, carpark to Worcester St. The Press left, Government Departmental Building, Heritage Hotel, Millennium Hotel / Distinction Hotel middle, Novotel right. The bldgs would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Gloucester St view, workmen in crane box hoisted to Novotel. Beyond: Government Departmental Building left, Heritage Hotel middle, Millennium Hotel / Distinction Hotel right in S red zone. The bldgs would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Gloucester St view, workmen in crane box hoisted to Novotel, S red zone
I trekked past The Gloucester ruin awaiting demolition in the north red-zone. (The Gloucester demolition-site would become part of CERA's Blueprint Performing Arts precinct & would remain a vacant demolition-site for over a decade before construction of the new Court Theatre). Behind was Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel. CERA wanted to open the red-zone-CBD in April seven months before. The red-zone-CBD would only open in 2013 after CERA's 28 months' occupation. Ghost high-rises like Forsyth Barr would block that reopening. It wasn't "dysfunctional Council" holding up CBD recovery it was slow CERA!
16.11.12. Gloucester St view, Novotel & abandoned Camelot Hotel, S red zone left. N red zone right. Camelot Hotel would be demolished for Central Library / Turanga rebuild
16.11.12. Shipping containers. Steel mesh fence cordon. Gloucester St view, abandoned Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel, N red zone
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. The Gloucester, N red zone, Gloucester St. The Gloucester arcade would be demolished, first week Dec 2012 for CERA's Blueprint Performing Arts precinct
Post 22 February 2011 Quake, Council took six months to consult 1 000s of citizens about the Share an Idea scheme & came up with a CBD rebuild plan. CERA took the next 10 months to produce a 100 day Blueprint for the CBD, filching Council's green space ideas, City in a Garden & rejecting others, like expensive light rail. CERA taking 10 months to repeat what Council did in six months was wasteful duplication & inefficiency!br />
Dithering CERA now bullied commercial property-owners in CERA's Blueprint East Frame & South Frame to cheaply sell their land to the Crown. Not satisfied with taking 7 000+ residential red-zone properties for the Crown, CERA now took Christchurch CBD land for the Crown. CERA's taking in the CBD was guarded by NZDF-soldiers at red-zone checkpoints paid for by NZ taxpayers. To date, Christchurch citizens were banned from their CBD for nearly two years.
CERA didn't say who'd maintain & operate Blueprint loss-makers like the new Convention Centre / Te Pae & the new Stadium. CERA had few ideas about injecting life & affordable housing into & around CERA's new CBD.
Gloucester St / Colombo St crossing: Steel-mesh-fence-cordoned, multi-storey Camelot Hotel ruin loomed in the red-zone-CBD. At Cathedral Sq NZDF-checkpoint by Camelot Hotel on Colombo St, an orange Hi-Vis vested, NZDF-soldier directed rubberneckers outside the steel-mesh-fence-cordon & directed contractors entering the red-zone. We'd endured soldiers & cops at CBD checkpoints since the 22 February 2011 Quake 21 months before. Christ Church Cathedral ruin also loomed. When would CERA demolish asbestos-riddled, multi-storey Government Life ruin in Cathedral Sq?
16.11.12. Contractors' cars. Gloucester St view, abandoned Christ Church Cathedral, S red zone. Novotel left, abandoned Camelot Hotel right
16.11.12. DANGER. STOP. NO PUBLIC ACCESS. 30 km/h speed limit sign. Orange, plastic, road cones. Steel mesh fence cordon. Christ Church Cathedral NZDF checkpoint, S red zone, Colombo St / Gloucester St crossing. Abandoned Camelot Hotel left awaited demolition for Council's Central Library / Turanga rebuild
16.11.12. Christ Church Cathedral, NZDF checkpoint view, abandoned Camelot Hotel left, awaited demolition for Council's Central Library / Turanga rebuild, Novotel right, being restored, Cathedral Sq, S red zone
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. NZDF checkpoint view, abandoned Christ Church Cathedral, Cathedral Sq, S red zone. Heritage Hotel, Millennium Hotel / Distinction Hotel beyond would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. NZDF checkpoint view, quake trashed / demolished tower & W facade, abandoned Christ Church Cathedral. Chalice middle, cop kiosk right, Cathedral Sq, would survive the quakes, but would be demolished, 2021
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. NZDF checkpoint view, NE Cathedral Sq, S red zone: Novotel left, being restored, Christ Church Cathedral north transept & Heritage Hotel right. The bldgs would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Abandoned Government Life, awaited demolition, Cathedral Sq, S red zone
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. NZDF checkpoint hut, portaloo, Colombo St / Gloucester St, S red zone
16.11.12. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. NZDF checkpoint, Colombo St / Gloucester St, S red zone. Abandoned Camelot Hotel left, awaited demolition for Council's Central Library / Turanga rebuild. Abandoned Christ Church Cathedral beyond would survive the quakes
Opposite multi-storey Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel & Cathedral Sq, I saw multi-storey Farmers ruined carpark being chomped by three orange-diggers. They heaped concrete-rubble behind steel-mesh-fence-cordons. I saw heaps of twisted, rusty rebars lying on quake-junk.
A steel-mesh-fence-cordon threat-sign:
DANGER
DEMOLITION
SITE
KEEP OUT
All ruins in the vicinity, like Chancery Ln buildings & multi-storey Farmers & Central Library & multi-storey Victoria Square apartments would be demolished for CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae. Some of Gloucester St would be taken for the Convention Centre stretching from Victoria Sq to Cathedral Sq. For a small city like Christchurch, CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae was a waste of taxpayers' money. Never mind Christchurch's surviving hotels' conference facilities & Christchurch's surviving halls where conventions could be held.
16.11.12. Orange, plastic, road cones. Steel mesh fence cordon. Colombo St / Gloucester St crossing view, N red zone: Farmers carpark demolition left, abandoned Isaacs House middle, abandoned Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel right. Isaacs House & Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Colombo St / Gloucester St view, Farmers multi-storey, carpark demolition, N red zone. Victoria Square apartments awaited demolition behind. Both bldgs would be demolished for NZ National Govt's / CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae
16.11.12.Steel mesh fence cordon. Gloucester St view, Farmers demolition rubble, abandoned Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel, N red zone. Abandoned BNZ right awaited demolition
16.11.12. Gloucester St view, Farmers multi-storey, carpark demolition, N red zone. Craigs behind. Both bldgs would be demolished for NZ National govt's / CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. 2 orange diggers. Gloucester St view, Farmers multi-storey, carpark demolition, abandoned Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel right
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Gloucester St view, Central Library awaited demolition. Farmers multi-storey, carpark rubble. Both bldgs would be demolished for NZ National govt's / CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae
Gloucester St: I trekked past a part-demolished ruin opposite Farmers demolition-site. The ruin was gutted by demolition-diggers. Through the ruin, I saw orange, Hi-Vis vested workmen chomping their lunches on Cathedral Sq. The ruin would be demolished for CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae.
16.11.12. Orange, plastic, fence cordon. Steel mesh fence cordon. Demolition gutted bldg, Gloucester St, S red zone. Government Life awaited demolition behind. The bldg would be demolished for NZ National govt's / CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Orange, plastic, fence cordon. Gloucester St NE view, Isaac Theatre Royal restoration left, N red zone. S red zone right
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Gloucester St view, abandoned Government Life, awaited demolition, Cathedral Sq, S red zone
Chancery Ln: The Arcade's ruined-shops were decayed, showing broken windows & rubbish lying on the footpath behind a south red- zone, steel-mesh-fence-cordon. Weeds grew through paving-stones in the Arcade. Chancery Ln ruins would be demolished in 2015 for CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae.
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Gloucester St view, quake trashed, Chancery Ln, Arcade shop, awaited demolition, S red zone, for NZ National govt's / CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae
Opposite Chancery Ln, Central Library ruin awaited demolition: Weeds grew on the roof & a heap of leaves lay by the boarded front door. USAR / TF graffiti besmirched a wall & windows. Central Library would be demolished for CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae. New Central Library / Turanga would be built, Gloucester St / Colombo St, on Camelot Hotel's demolition-site next to survivor, multi-storey Novotel.
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Gloucester St view, Farmers demolition rubble, Isaac Theatre Royal restoration, N red zone
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Central Library awaited demolition, Gloucester St, N red zone
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. USAR / TF graffiti, boarded Central Library door, Gloucester St, N red zone
16.11.12. USAR / TF graffiti, Central Library, Gloucester St / Oxford Tce, N red zone
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Gloucester St / Oxford Tce view, quake trashed, Provincial Council, N red zone
Gloucester St: I trekked past multi-storey Brannigans demolition-site to see two steel-mesh-fence-cordoned, Italian restaurants on Oxford Tce corner. One Italian restaurant would be demolished. Years later Caffe Roma would be restored. A DANGER KEEP OUT threat-sign hung on the south red-zone, steel-mesh-fence-cordon. An orange Hi-Vis vested workman carried a concrete-disc from Our City to his ute. For years, Our City ghost would await restoration, propped by concrete-blocks & steel-bracing. 2021. Our City restortion would begin.
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake trashed, Italian restaurants. Left restaurant would be demolished. Caffe Roma right would be restored, Oxford Tce, S red zone
16.11.12. Quake trashed, Caffé Roma, awaited restoration, Oxford Tce, S red zone. Abandoned Rydges Hotel behind, awaited restoration
16.11.12. DANGER KEEP OUT. S red zone, steel mesh fence cordon, Oxford Tce. Our City behind would be restored in 2021
Oxford Tce: I trekked upriver along Avon River bank beside a steel-mesh-fence-cordon. I saw multi-storey Clarendon Tower being demolished in the south red-zone. Our City's restoration junk & stacked bricks & metal & a papered turret lay in the Suffragette Memorial garden. Punters idled by Avon River bank: three blokes wore boaters & waistcoats & white shirts & longs. There were no tourist punters by Our City & Worcester St Bridge.
16.11.12. Oxford Tce red zone view, abandoned Rydges Hotel, awaited restoration. Clarendon Tower demolition, S red zone
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon right. Avon River bank view, Gloucester St Bridge. Craigs House & Victoria Square apartments awaited demolition in N red zone for CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae
16.11.12. Oxford Tce: Avon River bank view, Cambridge Tce
16.11.12. Oxford Tce: Steel mesh fence cordon. Avon River bank view, Our City restoration junk, S red zone. Our City would be restored, 2021
16.11.12. Oxford Tce: Avon River bank view, Our City restoration junk by Suffragettes Monument, Oxford Tce, S red zone. Our City would be restored, 2021
16.11.12. Oxford Tce: Steel mesh fence cordon. Avon River bank view. S red zone, Our City would be restored, 2021
16.11.12. Avon River punting. Worcester St Bridge, new Council bldg beyond
From Gloucester St Bridge: A good view of old Provincial Council ruin covered in tarps, awaiting restoration. School kids wandered across the bridge to stare at red-zone-CBD ruins behind the steel-mesh-fence-cordon.
16.11.12. Gloucester St Bridge view, quake trashed Provincial Council bldg, awaited restoration, N red zone
16.11.12. Gloucester St Bridge upriver view, Our City restoration junk behind a steel mesh fence cordon left, new Council bldg middle. Our City would be restored, 2021
16.11.12. School kids crossing Gloucester St Bridge. Landsborough House (URS House) awaited demolition right. Awly Building, a multi-storey office block would be built on URS House & Amuri Courts demo sites
Gloucester St / Durham St Nth: Multi-storey Landsborough House (URS House) ruin awaited demolition. It would be demolished a week later, within 48 hours. Awly Building, a multi-storey office-block would be built on URS House & Amuri Courts demolition-sites. On the opposite corner, on another demolition site, an Espresso trailer sold coffee to passersby, near an advert-festooned, faux pissoir.
16.11.12. Landsborough House (URS House) awaited demolition, Gloucester St / Durham St Nth. A week later, URS House would be demolished within 48 hours
16.11.12. Espresso coffee trailer, faux pissoir by demolition site, Cambridge Tce / Gloucester St
Cambridge Tce: A Kea Coffee Co caravan sold food to passersby. Months before, I'd last seen that caravan trading on Theme Basics demolition-site, Manchester St / St Asaph St.
16.11.12. Kea Coffee Co caravan, Cambridge Tce. By 2015 Kea Coffee Co caravan would move to closed Gloucester St Bridge
16.11.12. Cambridge Tce view, Avon River punting by Worcester St Bridge. CBD Red zone beyond
16.11.12. Worcester St Bridge view, Cambridge Tce & Central Police, Hereford St. Central Police would be imploded 30.05.15
Worcester St Bridge: Steel-mesh-fence-cordoned. Information-signs & threat-signs on the fence: WELCOME TO CHRISTCHURCH, EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT, a Wizard poster, Save the Cathedral pics, CERA parking notices:
THIS AREA IS DESIGNATED
AS PARKING FOR
CERA EMERGENCY
RESPONSE VEHICLES ONLY
16.11.12. Signs, Worcester St Bridge, steel mesh fence cordon, S red zone
16.11.12. CERA vehicles obstructing Worcester St Bridge, S red zone. Our City & Rydges Hotel behind awaited restoration
Five CERA vehicles were parked on Worcester St Bridge, obstructing pedestrians. I saw CERA boss Sutton scuttling up Worcester Blvd. Since when were CERA's unelected minions exempt from parking tickets by Council? There were enough Wilson carparks on demolition-sites for CERA minions!
21.12.12. It took CERA weeks to accede they blocked public access to Worcester St Bridge & that the bridge was easiest access to punting, instead of Gloucester St Bridge further downriver. Only on 21.12.12 was a bit of Worcester St Bridge opened for punters. CERA continued to take so long to make simple decisions! They only had till 2016 (five year tenure) to sort out recovery, with more NZ governmentt departments & expertise at CERA's disposal.
So far almost two years post 22 February 2011 Quake, CERA's recovery was a demolition derby! Recovery so far was overseen by top-down, dictatorial, minority NZ National government & recovery minister Brownlee. Why was CERA's General Manager, Economic Recovery leaving CERA? (CERA press release, Chief Executive update, 19 December 2012).
Cambridge Tce: I trekked upriver along Avon River bank & watched a digger demolishing multi-storey Clarendon Tower, Oxford Tce in the red-zone.
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Red crane. Cambridge Tce, Avon River bank view, Clarendon Tower demolition, Oxford Tce, S red zone
Oxford Tce, Restart Cashel Mall side: I looked at a Gap Filler dance-platform. ANZ bank was in a porta-cabin by Remembrance Arch. Besides Restart shipping-container shops, since I'd last visited Restart, a shop had reopened & another was readied for reopening. Restart was buzzing with shoppers. Groups of school kids sang & made music for passersby in anticipation of Charles's & Camilla's visit.
Hereford St: I saw several ruins in the south red-zone-cordon which still had USAR / TF graffiti on walls & windows. Tete a Tete in the old wooden Shands Emporium was wonky & wood-braced, ready for relocation, amidst demolition-site carparks at Restart's back-entrance.
2015. Shands Emporium would relocate to Manchester St next to Trinity Church / Octagon Restaurant ghost. At the same time CERA / CCDU wastefully demolished brand new, Westende House to widen Manchester St. August 2019. Mike Mayell, CookieTime owner, would propose converting Shands Emporium & Trinity Church / Octagon Restaurant into a Cannabis Museum. After a year odd, that crackpot idea would fizzle!
16.11.12. DANGER KEEP OUT. Steel mesh fence cordon. Hereford St Bridge view, Hereford St / Oxford Tce crossing. S red zone left
16.11.12. Closed NZDF checkpoint hut left. Red crane centre. Steel mesh fence cordon right. Oxford Tce view, Clarendon Tower demolition, S red zone
16.11.12. FOOTPATH CLOSED. Steel mesh fence cordon. E view, Hereford St. S red zone left
16.11.12. USAR / TF graffiti, Hereford St abandoned bldg
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Hereford St, Tete a Tete, Shands Emporium awaited relocation to Manchester St. Restart Cashel Mall demolition site, carparks both sides
16.11.12. Demolition site carparks, Restart Cashel Mall back entry, Hereford St
Ibis Hotel, Hereford St, was recently opened, not much business going on. Opposite Ibis Hotel, on a demolition-site, a temporary astro-turf football pitch was installed. A mural:
FOOTBALL FOREVER FOOTBALL CHCH FOREVER
IN THE GAP
In the south red-zone I saw Holiday Inn demolition again. I saw other demolition-sites, like Hanafins & more ruins awaiting demolitions like IBM. Multi-storey BNZ ruin was part-demolished due to asbestos hazard, then was abandoned for years, an eyesore. (Still abandoned in 2016, but would eventually be demolished. A new multi-storey, the Spark office would be built on-site, 2019). BNZ wasn't the only ruin on Cathedral Sq. 2026. Christ Church Cathedral ruin would still be ruined & cordoned due to poor funding for an extremely slow reinstatement...).
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Post quake, reopened Ibis Hotel, Hereford St
16.11.12. Quake trashed, abandoned bldg, opp Ibis Hotel, Hereford St, S red zone
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. USAR / TF graffiti, quake trashed bldg, opp Ibis Hotel, Hereford St, S red zone
16.11.12. Temp, astro turf, football pitch, demolition site, opp Ibis Hotel, Hereford St
16.11.12. Orange, plastic bollard. Steel mesh fence cordon. S red zone bldg, awaited demolition, Hereford St / Colombo St. Holiday Inn demolition right
16.11.12. Hereford St view, Holiday Inn demolition, S red zone
16.11.12. Orange / white, plastic bollards, steel mesh fence cordon. Hereford St, demolition site, football pitch. Colombo St bldg awaited demolition in S red zone beyond
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Orange / white, plastic bollard cordon. Hereford St, demolition site, football pitch view, S red zone, Hereford St / Colombo St / High St crossing. IBM awaited demolition left. BNZ part demolition in progress right. BNZ stayed part demolished for years. It would be demolished for Spark offices, built 2019. Millennium Hotel / Distinction Hotel awaited restoration behind
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Orange / white, plastic bollard cordon. BNZ part demolition site mid left, Hanafins demolition site middle, Hereford St / Colombo St / High St crossing, S red zone. Flour Power sculpture by trees right would survive the quakes
16.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Flour Power sculpture would survive the quakes, Colombo St / High St / Hereford St, S red zone
Cashel Mall: I trekked past Restart Cashel Mall shops to The Crossing, then trekked Colombo St in a shipping-container tunnel past repairs to closed National Bank (merged with ANZ Bank) to Lichfield St crossing.
I returned to my car, as my Samsung camera battery expired. The next day, 17.11.12, I returned with Leah to the CBD to rubberneck the Charles & Camilla Royal Visit.
Colombo St: In a demolition-site's Wilson carpark near the temporary Bus Exchange, we spotted a new gift shop in a porta-cabin. We also found porta-cabin, public toilets by Tuam Library.
17.11.12. Porta-cabin gift shop, demolition site carpark, temporary Bus Exchange, Colombo St / Tuam St
Near Mollett St, where 16 people died in the 22 February 2011 Quake, crushed by masonry fallen from old, brick buildings, we saw Beggs Music shop wall which showed a Kirsty Dunn's poem:
Amidst the shards of glass
& twisted steel
Beside the fallen brick
& scattered concrete
we begin to understand
that there is beauty in the
broken
Strangers do not live here
anymore.
Beggs Music relocated to South City mall.
17.11.12. Kirsty Dunn's poem, Beggs Music shop mural, Colombo St / Mollett St junction
Colombo St / St Asaph St: Tradestaff mural of bldgs, workers & greenery.
17.11.12. Demolition site & Tradestaff mural, Colombo St / St Asaph St
Colombo St / Tuam St: I HOPE CHRISTCHURCH WILL... blackboard mural. A good view of Holiday Inn demolition in the S red zone.
17.11.12. Blackboard mural on demolition site, Colombo St / Tuam St
17.11.12. NO ENTRY. Wilson demolition site, carpark view, Holiday Inn demolition, Colombo St / Tuam St. Old Council bldg in S red zone right, awaited demolition for the new Bus Interchange
Tuam St: We saw CERA's south red-zone-CBD-cordon one side, CERA's Blueprint South Frame the other side. There CERA / CCDU wanted to take perfectly good buildings for its Blueprint South Frame.
Tuam St / Manchester St crossing: We saw Odeon Theatre facade propped by stacked shipping-containers. The rest of the old, brick theatre was demolished. We trekked past demolition-sites on south red zone Manchester St, with another good view of multi-storey Holiday Inn demolition. Post-quakes, on one Manchester St corner, EPIC Innovation, a black & blue shed was built. Ugly!
17.11.12. ROAD CLOSED. Steel mesh fence cordon. Manchester St / Tuam St crossing view, Holiday Inn demolition, S red zone
17.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Demolition site & post quake EPIC Innovation shed, Tuam St / Manchester St
CCDU boss Isaacs announced revamping of CBD roads, lots of cycleways & walkways. St Asaph St & Tuam St would be one-ways with widening of Manchester St & Tuam St. Kilmore St & Salisbury St would be two-ways. A 30km/h speed limit would be imposed in the CBD! (Post quakes, that CCDU road plan would not be strictly followed, Salisbury St would be two-way & Kilmore St would be one-way. There would be CBD roading cock-ups, like widened footpaths & cycle-lanes obstructing parking & lane widths In Manchester St & St Asaph St.)
Colombo St / Cathedral Sq, NZDF-checkpoint: "I bet Prince Charles & Camilla are in the red-zone," I said. "Instead of the usual two checkpoint soldiers, there are now three soldiers". We saw a senior cop who drove out of the red zone, then chatted to a checkpoint soldier. We awaited royalty.
17.11.12. STOP. Steel mesh fence cordon. Colombo St / Gloucester St crossing view, NZDF checkpoint by abandoned Christ Church Cathedral, Cathedral Sq, S red zone
Gloucester St: Four motorbike-riding, royal escort cops arrived, blocking Gloucester St traffic, then goons in flash cars whizzed out of the red-zone. We didn't see Charles & Camilla then, but a soldier told us they were in the high van with dark windows which had just passed. Charles & Camilla were given a special tour of the CBD, but citizens who'd endured quakes were banned, doffing their caps at the blue-light brigade. Charles & Camilla would be crowned king & queen in May 2023.
17.11.12. Orange, plastic, road cones. Steel mesh fence cordon. Police escort, Charles & Camilla royal visit, Colombo St / Gloucester St crossing, by Cathedral Sq, NZDF checkpoint, S red zone
Cashel Mall: At Restart Cashel Mall we looked at the Oxford Tce dance-platform where dancers practised next to Rekindle's reclaimed wood furniture exhibit. Later Charles & Camilla danced with locals there. A Rekindle poster:
Rekindle's mission is
to support communities
to utilize their wood
waste fully and in doing
so, maximize the benefit
of the purposeful work
involved.
17.11.12. Oxford Tce dance platform, Restart Cashel Mall. Charles & Camilla danced with locals there
We joined the 4 000 odd crowd, thickening near The Crossing gate into the red-zone. We saw Twinkle Toes, a giant digger demolishing multi-storey, Holiday Inn ruin in the red-zone, while we awaited royalty.
17.11.12. Hereford St, demolition site, carpark, back entry to Restart shipping container shops, Cashel Mall
17.11.12. Post quake Restart shipping container shops, Restart Cashel Mall
17.11.12. Crowd awaiting Charles & Camilla royal visit, Restart Cashel Mall. Twinkle Toes, giant digger demolishing Holiday Inn beyond, S red zone
17.11.12. Twinkle Toes, giant digger demolishing Holiday Inn, Cashel Mall, S red zone
17.11.12. Crowd by Ballantynes awaiting arrival of Charles & Camilla, Restart Cashel Mall
17.11.12. Cashel Mall crowd by The Crossing, S red zone, awaiting arrival of Charles & Camilla. Twinkle Toes, giant digger demolishing Holiday Inn beyond
17.11.12. Cashel Mall view, Twinkle Toes, giant digger demolishing Holiday Inn, S red zone
17.11.12. Crowd on Restart Cashel Mall by The Crossing awaiting arrival of Charles & Camilla. Twinkle Toe, giant digger demolishing Holiday Inn beyond
17.11.12. CERA minister Brownlee mingling, while awaiting arrival of Charles & Camilla at The Crossing, Cashel Mall / Colombo St, S red zone
17.11.12. Cashel Mall crowd by The Crossing awaiting arrival of Charles & Camilla. Twinkle Toes, giant digger demolishing Holiday Inn beyond
CERA minister Brownlee mingled. Cashel Mall crawled with uniformed cops & non uniformed cops. When Charles & Camilla entered Restart through The Crossing gate, Leah was the first to shake Camilla's hand. Led by a goon & Brownlee, the hand-shaking maul walked Cashel Mall towards Remembrance Arch.
17.11.12. Cops, Cashel Mall crowd awaiting arrival of Charles & Camilla from the S red zone
17.11.12. CERA minister Gerry Brownlee & goon leading royal party, Cashel Mall
17.11.12. Back to cam, Camilla mingling & hand-shaking, Restart Cashel Mall
17.11.12. Charles mingling & hand-shaking, Restart Cashel Mall
17.11.12. PM Key mingling & hand-shaking, Restart Cashel Mall
17.11.12. CERA boss Sutton mingling, Restart Cashel Mall
17.11.12. PM Key mingling, Restart Cashel Mall
I stood on a bench taking back-shots of Camilla & a couple of close-ups of Charles hand-shaking. Few paid attention to Brownlee who led down Cashel Mall, cops & goons following, curly wires sticking out of goons' ears while they guarded the royals closely. CERA boss Sutton scuttled by & smiling PM Key followed in the rear.
"I like your tie," said Leah to PM Key. A nice blue tie. Leah wore blue too. That broadened Key's smile, his goon grinned too.
17.11.12. "I like your tie." PM Key mingling, Restart Cashel Mall
The royals mingled with peasants while Twinkle Toes smashed multi-storey Holiday Inn to smithereens. A faux pissoir poster with a Charles pic:
Hey Charlie,
feel like joining
us in singing
our national
anthem today?
[Charles pic]
17.11.12. Cashel Mall, The Crossing view, Twinkle Toes, giant digger demolishing Holiday Inn, S red zone
Tuam St: We returning to our car & saw the blue-light brigade leaving the red-zone cordon via Colombo St & Lichfield St past the ghost Bus Exchange, soon to be demolished.
17.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Royal escort cops leaving the S red zone, Colombo St / Lichfield St crossing
Twenty one months post 22 February 2011 Quake, occupying CERA would reopen Victoria Sq for peasants to visit. We parked on Chester St West. We trekked past Pallet Pavilion on Crowne Plaza Hotel demolition-site. Brick paving at the back end of Victoria Sq was quake-buckled near the floral clock, no flowers yet, just dirt. Steel-mesh-fence-cordon posters:
OPENING
SOON!
CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE
WWW.GAPFILLER.ORG.NZ
SIGN UP HERE!!!
VOLUNTEER
TO HELP BUILD THE
GAP
FILLER
SUMMER PALLET PAVILION
Kilmore St / Durham St Nth: Pallet Pavilion was a Gap Filler initiative, constructed & deconstructed by volunteers, which would last more than a year, December 2012 - April 2014. Social activities would be held at Pallet Pavilion on Crowne Plaza Hotel demolition-site. The only new "construction" on our trek, just piles of blue CHEP pallets. So much for CERA recovery.
17.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Pallet Pavilion, Crowne Plaza Hotel, demolition site, Kilmore St / Durham St Nth
Victoria Sq: We trekked across a little asphalt causeway, steel-mesh-fence-cordons either side. Victoria Bridge survived the quakes. A red-zone steel-mesh-fence-cordon by abandoned Town Hall's back entrance: EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT. The Dandelion Fountain by Avon River wasn't working, weeds grew below. Brick stairs to Town Hall's door were buckled. Abandoned Town Hall had boarded windows & awaited restoration.
17.11.12. EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT. N red zone, steel mesh fence cordon, by quake trashed, Christchurch Town Hall, Victoria Sq
17.11.12. Quake survivor, Victoria Bridge, Victoria Sq
17.11.12. Victoria Sq: Quake trashed, Christchurch Town Hall, Dandelion Fountain, not working, by Avon River. Awaiting restoration
17.11.12. Victoria Sq: Quake trashed, Dandelion Fountain, quake buckled steps going to quake trashed, Christchurch Town Hall. Awaiting restoration
Victoria Sq / Colombo St: We trekked past a steel-mesh-fence-cordon past demolition-sites, to Colombo St / Armagh St crossing. Winnie Bagoes was gone, just a heap of twisted, rusting rebars on the demolition-site.
17.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordons, one covered with red plastic. Victoria Sq view, twisted, rusting, rebar heap on Winnie Bagoes demolition site, Colombo St / Armagh St, N red zone. Abandoned BNZ right, awaited demolition
17.11.12. Victoria Sq view, abandoned Forsyth Barr left & abandoned National Bank (merged with ANZ) / Isaac House, Colombo St / Armagh St, N red zone. Both bldgs would survive the quakes
17.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Victoria Sq view, Colombo St demolition truck by Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel
17.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Victoria Sq view, Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel, Colombo St / Armagh St, N red zone
Colombo St / Armagh St: Abandoned Forsyth Barr loomed over Victoria Sq & the Queen Victoria, Boer War statue, remembering Cantabrians killed by Boers & mostly by enteric fever. Victoria wasn't amused at CERA's slow demolitions & Forsyth Barr spoiling her view. After restoration, multi-storey Forsyth Barr would become Crowne Plaza Hotel.
17.11.12. Queen Victoria Boer War Statue, Victoria Sq. Forsyth Barr / Crown Plaza Hotel beyond
Victoria Sq: CERA's red-zone steel-mesh-fence-cordon around Victoria Sq cordoned Christchurch citizens away from the CERA occupied CBD, like queen Victoria's empire troops who'd cordoned 1 000s of Boer War women, children, POWs & blacks in concentration camps in SA & elsewhere in her empire: Ceylon, St Helena, Bermuda...
17.11.12. Queen Victoria Boer War Statue, Victoria Sq
17.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Demolition trucks, Armagh St by Victoria Sq, N red zone
We saw demolition-trucks parked behind steel-mesh-fence-cordons on Colombo St & Armagh St. People wandered Victoria Sq, glad to see greenery instead of drab demolition-dust. Victorians had shown the way with green spaces: Victoria Sq, Latimer Sq, Cranmer Sq, Hagley Park, Botanic Gardens.
An old woman stood before abandoned Victoria Square apartments while talking to her family. It was the first time she'd seen her apartment since the 22 February 2011 Quake. Victoria Square apartments & next door multi-storey Craigs House would be demolished for CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae.
17.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Abandoned Victoria Square flats, abandoned Craigs House, Armagh St, by Victoria Sq, N red zone. The bldgs would be demolished for NZ National govt's / CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae
Armagh St Bridge: We returned to our car via Armagh St Bridge which was opened for the royal visit. Pity peasants had to wait so long for CERA & Council to wake up!
17.11.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Armagh St Bridge view, Craigs House, Victoria Square flats & Forsyth Barr / Crowne Plaza Hotel by Victoria Sq. Craigs House & Victoria Square flats would be demolished for NZ National govt's / CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae
Durham St Nth: We crossed the Durham St Methodist Church's demolition-site where three people died in 22 February 2011 Quake. Street art hung on a wall remembering the dead. A circular art-work:
6.3 MAG * 22.02.11 * 12.51 PM * R.I.P. 185 *
Durham St Nth / Chester St West: We watched steel-mesh-fence-cordoned Radio New Zealand being demolished.
17.11.12. Street art by Methodist Church demolition site, Durham St Nth
17.11.12. Radio New Zealand demolition, Chester St West / Durham St Nth
*Trekked Tuam St, High St, Madras St, Hereford St, Worcester St, Manchester St, Gloucester St, Oxford Tce, Cambridge Tce, Worcester St Bridge, Colombo St, Restart Cashel Mall, Lichfield St, Kilmore St, Victoria Sq, Durham St Nth. 435 images.
All we saw in the red-zone-CBD was steel-mesh-fence-cordoned ruins & ghost buildings, abandoned since the 22 February 2011 Quake & NZDF- checkpoints & scores of dusty & demolition-sites on quaked swampland. CERA's red-zone-CBD was was a lifeless demolition-zone with no commercial activity.
NZ National government reined in mayor Parker's wishes, like a new light-rail; Council wanting to own ruined Christ Church Cathedral; relocating Canterbury University campus back to the ruined CBD to return youth to CERA's demolished CBD; all councillors voting in favour of saving quake-broken Town Hall without ascertaining ground conditions via Tonkin & Taylor land-reports. (The latter decision would be reversed by the next elected Council. Town Hall would be repaired).
No one reined in CERA's Blueprint for its demolished CBD: a roofed Stadium, a Convention Centre / Te Pae, a Metro Sports Facility, an East Frame, a South Frame... Labour was useless: squabbles between leader David Shearer & wannabe leader, David Cunliffe. Only Labour MP with gumption was Dalziel who spoke up for ruined eastern suburbs.
CERA's / CCDU's East Frame & South Frame bordering CERA's shrunken CBD were a means to take land from CBD property owners. While NZ National government tried selling national assets, it tried taking property assets from Christchurch citizens for government schemes paid for by ratepayers & taxpayers. CERA's rationale: land was needed for Blueprint precincts & shrinking of the CBD by means of Frame parkland to maintain its core-CBD property-values.
The East Frame & South Frame idea according to CCDU boss Issacs was that the Frame would maintain value of CERA reduced CBD land. That was codswallop, as there was lots of viable CBD land & businesses outside CCDU's core-CBD, extending to the 4 Avenues & beyond. CCDU just manipulated citizens' desires for a City in a Garden.
NZ National government hadn't even said what it would do with 7 000+ red-zone residential properties it had taken in ruined suburbs.
EQC still dithered with TC3 land-drilling & slow repairs. Mainland Press, EQC announcement 29.11.12:
"When will claims be settled?
Our promise is that worst damaged homes will be repaired by the end of 2013. All other homes will be repaired by the end of 2015.
All claims for land damage will be settled by the end of 2014 at the latest."
So EQC expected some owners of damaged homes to slum it for nearly three years post 22 February 2011 Quake & owners of less damaged homes to slum it longer, up to five years post 22 February 2011 Quake. Meanwhile EQC boss Simpson was recently given a $70 000 raise for running EQC!
Never mind squabbles with insurers & Ministry of Education proposed changes to Christchurch schools & slow road repairs & slow bridge repairs by SCIRT & power struggles between CERA & Council over taxpayers' & ratepayers' dollars.
Coda:
March 2016, five years post 22 February 2011 Quake, CERA would reach its expiry date to be replaced by Regenerate Christchurch, another NZ National government agency. CERA's Blueprint rebuild was slow in Christchurch CBD. Margaret Mahy Family Playground was in the East Frame. The Convention Centre demolition-site was still steel-mesh-fence-cordoned, no Convention Centre rebuild yet. (2018-21. Belated building of Convention Centre / Te Pae). Christ Church Cathedral ruin was still cordoned. The Cardboard Cathedral functioned by Latimer Sq. Christchurch Basilica ruin, Barbadoes St, future unknown. (Christchurch Basilica ruin would be demolished in 2021.)
Victoria Sq was surrounded by demolition-sites. Victoria Bridge & upriver Gloucester St Bridge were being restored by SCIRT. Town Hall was being restored, Dandelion Fountain gone for repairs. Other roads & bridges were being repaired by SCIRT. Christchurch roads generally: bumpy & patched.
Between Lichfield St & Tuam St: The new Bus Interchange operated. Further west between those streets, Justice & Emergency Services precinct was being built. Some of New Regent St & some of Cathedral Junction & some of Cathedral Sq hotels did business. New office blocks & shops & restaurants & pubs were going up by Cashel Mall, like The Terraces & BNZ Centre & ANZ Centre. New office blocks were already built on Cambridge Tce & Durham St Nth & Victoria St & High St. Provincial Council ruin Gloucester St / Durham St Nth still awaited restoration. Christchurch Arts Centre, Worcester Blvd was being restored.
CERA left many dusty demolition-sites in its core-CBD & left some grass patches in its East Frame. CERA took many private business sites in its core-CBD for its Blueprint anchor projects. Many CBD businesses relocated to the suburbs away from CERA's CBD stranglehold.
Most of the 7 000+ residential red-zone houses were demolished by CERA. Insurers & EQC still bumbled about house claims: 5 500 repairs had to be redone due to Fletcher's shoddy repairs. 4 500 house insurance repair / rebuild claims were still unresolved due to EQC's slow overcap $100 000 decisions. NZ National government did nothing about EQC's & insurers' deny-delay-defend mess. The Press 08.03.16 reported EQC's 2010-11 claims inspections of drains (sewage & storm water pipes) were shoddy, 2 500 drain claims needed review. There were calls by the public & opposition MPs like Megan Woods for an Inquiry into EQC's ineptness. 2019. That Inquiry was done by Dame Silvia Cartwright.
12.08.19. Poplar St / Lichfield St: Post-quake developments: Two buildings which survived the quakes became Dux Central, a bar / eatery. East, behind Dux Central on Lichfield St a multi-storey carpark was built. Poplar St / Ash St: New Vanguard Sq evolved & multi-storey Vodafone was built along Tuam St.
Poplar St still had its pre-quakes tramline embedded in the street. The rental-site where Jake had pre-quakes flatted was still a dirty demolition-site, backed by Smash Palace, owned by ex mayor's son, Johnny Moore. Johnny had relocated Smash Palace during quakes from its Bealey Ave / Victoria St temporary site, to an old, brick building on High St. On the demolition-site behind Smash Palace, a steel-mesh-fence-cordon surrounded some of the demolition-site where two yellow threat-signs on the cordon-fence warned about asbestos danger. A CERA demolition-contractor had buried asbestos rubble there! By May 2026, this development around Poplar St was still the same. The shingle carpark was still there where Jake's old, brick apartment once stood.
Tuam St: Another quake survivor, the Fashion School (Ara Tech) continued business as it had done through quake-times. Across High St, Duncan's, an old, brick, two-storey ruin, abandoned for years was being restored. High St / St Asaph St: End-ruins: Where a High St, two-storey, old, brick ruin burned during quake-times, the demolition-site was used to store builders' materials. Across a lane, new multi-storey Billens 201, stood proud next to McKenzie Willis restored facade, High St / Tuam St. Four new buildings behind the restored facade formed multi-storey shops & offices & eateries. I saw lanes amongst the buildings. A public square was bordered by the McKenzie Willis development & the Epic Innovation building, Manchester St side. The revamped area would be called Salt District.
Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
See EQC Chief Executive Ian Simpson gets $70 000 pay rise (The Press / Stuff Co).
See CERA Chief Executive update, 19 December 2012 (CERA media releases).
See Christchurch then and now (The Press / Stuff Co).
See Regenerate Christchurch agency confirmed 25 September 2015 (CERA).
