Cashel St was the most lethal CBD street during the Feb 22 Killer Quake, as eastwards across the CBD, 115 people died when CTV multi-storey collapsed & burned, Cashel St / Madras St.
Post Feb 22 Killer Quake & National State of Emergency, CERA occupied the red zone CBD, public banned from Cashel Mall. Only cops, NZDF soldiers, contractors & the favoured few were allowed into Christchurch CBD, red zone cordon. There were many complaints about business people & public being banned from the CBD. The excuse from National State of Emergency Civil Defence & CERA was public safety, while demolitions happened.
On Cashel Mall demolition sites, businessman Paul Lonsdale organized revamping of old shipping containers, as north & south shopping precincts, with 27 shipping container shops. Other Cashel Mall demolition sites became carparks. Lonsdale would soon become a councillor.
Sat 29.10.11, a sunny day, when the red zone CBD livened up. Near Cashel Mall the new, temporary Bus Exchange had already opened, 25.10.11, on quake demolition sites between Lichfied St - Tuam St, bordered E by Colombo St.
29.10.11. St Asaph St parking meter, free parking, post Feb 22 quake miracle.
St Asaph St: Just after 11:00, I parked my car, free parking, as meters were switched off by Council, trying to encourage public back to the CBD. Most CBD, survivor bldgs I passed that day were closed. CBD was riddled with steel mesh fence cordons & other cordons.
People thronged Colombo St, ready for the official opening of Restart Cashel Mall, 12:00. I trekked Colombo St from St Asaph St to Tuam St, were 16 people were killed by falling masonry, Feb 22 quake. Colombo St roadsides were demolition sites, a few dusty old bldgs, quake survivors, closed.
29.10.11. Shipping container cordon. Lethal Colombo St / Mollett St junction, Feb 22 quake: 12 people killed by falling masonry - 8 in a red bus, 4 pedestrians
The west side demolition site / carpark I'd seen 3 days before as shingle, was asphalted with free parking, white markings on asphalt, next door to the new, temporary, Bus Exchange.
29.10.11. Colombo St view, Post Feb 22 quake, blue portaloo & demolition sites / carpark. New, temp, Bus Exchange by brown porta- cabins beyond
Tuam St / Colombo St crossing: Trekked past closed, red zone, NZDF cordon, checkpoint hut, active 3 days before with NZDF soldiers. Red zone cordon was opening at last for Restart Cashel Mall by Ballantynes.
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Closed NZDF checkpoint hut, ex red zone, dead zone, Colombo St, between Tuam St / Lichfield St. The bldgs would be demolished for the permanent Bus Interchange
29.10.11. Red zone Colombo St, closed NZDF checkpoint hut view, quake demolition site / carpark, between Tuam St / Lichfield St. New, temp, Bus Exchange beyond. The area would become Hoyts EntX
Colombo St: Shops were still closed, 8 months post Feb 22 Killer Quake, evidence of quake survivors fleeing: doors locked, items flung around in shops, National Bank desks awry, dust, USAR / TF graffiti everywhere. Creepy feeling again, Colombo St ghosts both sides, danger lurking. We didn't know Xmas Quake Swarm loomed.
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. CBD red zone, Colombo St, east side. Bldgs beyond fence cordon, closed, dead, post Feb 22 quake. Westpac middle, awaiting demolition
29.10.11. Feb 22 quake trashed shop window, 8 months post quake, red zone Colombo St
Colombo St / Lichfield St crossing: ROAD CLOSED. Still red zone, steel mesh fence cordoned, where 2 officials waited to open a pavement route to Restart Cashel Mall. On the east side, in the red zone, ghosts awaited demolition, like Westpac, Hotel Grand Chancellor, Holiday Inn, old Council offices. Diggers demolished a bldg.
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Couple waiting for opening of Restart Cashel Mall, 8 months post Feb 22 quake, Colombo St, nr Lichfield St crossing
29.10.11. Shipping container / steel mesh fence cordon. Colombo St / Lichfield St crossing, still red zone closed, before opening of Restart Cashel Mall
29.10.11. Orange, plastic bollard cordon. Southwards view, red zone Colombo St, before opening of Restart Cashel Mall. Port Hills beyond
29.10.11. ROAD CLOSED. Steel mesh fence cordon. Colombo St / Lichfield St, officials waiting to open the red zone, cordon fence for the 12:00 opening of Restart Cashel Mall.
Colombo St / Lichfeld St: As it was before 12:00 opening time, while a crowd gathered at the steel mesh fence cordoned crossing, security men in orange or yellow, Hi-Vis vests stopped public entering the cordon.
29.10.11. Colombo St crossing, westwards view, Lichfield St
29.10.11. Rohits Indian restaurant, Lichfield St, red zone closed post Feb 22 quake. USAR / TF graffiti on yellow stickered door. CLEAR meant no bodies
29.10.11. New carpark on Feb 22 quake demolition site, by new, temp, Bus Exchange, Lichfield St. The area would become Hoyts EntX
29.10.11. Post Feb 22 quake, Ballantynes extension, opp new, temp, Bus Exchange, Lichfield St
Lichfield St: I trekked west, past the new, temporary, Bus Exchange, past soon to be opened Ballantynes new extensions, past a demolition site by Plymouth Ln.
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Plymouth Ln view, DTZ bldg demolition site / Wilson $1/hr carpark. Central Police high rise left. Cashel Mall post Feb 22 quake remains right. Central Police would be imploded 31.05.15
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Plymouth Ln view, DTZ bldg demolition site / Wilson $1/hr carpark. Beyond: remains of Cashel Mall & Clarendon Tower, awaiting demolition
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Orange digger. Plymouth Ln view, post Feb 22 quake demolition site, Lichfield St
29.10.11. Traffic jam, Lichfield St / Durham St Sth, before opening of Restart Cashel Mall. Gridlock was common around the red zone CBD post Feb 22 quake
Lichfield St / Durham St Sth: Security men & a cop directed traffic. I trekked towards Restart Cashel Mall, by Bridge of Remembrance, where crowds gathered to enter at 12:00, by DTZ demolition site, new Wilson $1/hr carpark, Oxford Tce. Security men in yellow, Hi-Vis vests stopped crowds entering steel mesh fence cordons along Oxford Tce.
29.10.11. Man cleaning 8 months old USAR / TF graffiti off shop window, red zone Oxford Tce, before 12:00 opening of Restart Cashel Mall, shipping container shops. The bldg would be demolished for the Riverside Market, opened Sept 2019
29.10.11. Post Feb 22 quake, USAR / TF graffiti on Mad Cow, Oxford Tce. Mad Cow would be demolished for the Riverside Market, opended Sept 2019
Oxford Tce / Lichfield St: Eight months post Feb 22 Killer Quake, businesses newly released from the red zone, I watched two men clean USAR / TF graffiti from a shop window. Pity USAR / TF didn't offer to clean up their own mess: 1 000s of bldgs, pavements, roads spray-painted with USAR / TF graffiti. Not a cheep from USAR / TF about visual pollution they left. Most USAR / TF teams arrived too late to save anyone on 22.02.11. Life-saving was done by ordinary citizens on the spot. Meanwhile volunteer Response Teams, RT, also trained in Urban Search & Rescue, were used as dogs-bodies. (Deb Donnell, "Responders," Keswin Publishing, Christchurch, 2013). The graffitied bldg would be demolished for the Riverside Market, opened Sept 2019.
29.10.11. Oxford Tce, NZDF checkpoint hut by CBD red zone, steel mesh fence cordon, nr Restart Cashel Mall
29.10.11. Crowd gathering on Oxford Tce by, Bridge of Remembrance, for 12:00 opening of Restart Cashel Mall, shipping container shops, 8 months post Feb 22 quake
29.10.11. Chinese / NZ friendship plaque, Oxford Tce, by Bridge of Remembrance, nr Cashel Mall
Cambridge Tce: I trekked by sewage polluted Avon River to Bridge of Remembrance, the crowd growing thick bridge-side on Avon River bank, Cashel Mall / Oxford Tce.
29.10.11. Cambridge Tce view, Bridge of Remembrance / Oxford Tce crowd, waiting for 12:00 opening of CBD, red zone, steel mesh fence cordon, Restart Cashel Mall, 8 months post Feb 22 quake
Bridge of Remembrance: DANGER KEEP OUT. Still steel mesh fence cordoned, Remembrance Arch unstable. I stood on a brick wall on top of the bridge steps, snapping a demolition site, Cambridge Tce / Cashel St. Orange, plastic, road cones by Bridge of Remembrance steps had plastic flowers inserted into road cone tops. Road cone flowers would become symbols of Feb 22 Killer Quake annual remembrance days.
29.10.11. Cambridge Tce / Cashel St steps, Bridge of Remembrance, just before opening of Restart Cashel Mall, 8 months post Feb 22 quake
29.10.11. Plastic flowers on orange, plastic, road cone cordon, Cambridge Tce by Bridge of Remembrance steps
29.10.11. Orange, plastic, road cone, steel mesh fence cordon. Bridge of Remembrance western view, post Feb 22 quake demolition site, Cambridge Tce / Cashel St
29.10.11. Cashel Mall opening photographers, Bridge of Remembrance & western view, Cambridge Tce / Cashel St crossing, 8 months post Feb 22 quake
Restart Cashel Mall: 12:00. The steel mesh fence cordon opened Oxford Tce. Crowds streamed in, while I snapped the historic scene. Many photographers that day, incl CTV & One News cameras. That evening, One News reported the crowd was 10 000 strong, demolition site to demolition site crowd on Restart Cashel Mall, 100 metres odd.
29.10.11. DANGER KEEP OUT. Steel mesh fence cordon. Bridge of Remembrance view, crowd entering the CBD red zone cordon, 12:00, when Restart Cashel Mall, shipping container shops opened, 8 months post Feb 22 quake
Cambridge Tce: Snapped across Avon River, a red zone demolition site where restaurants once stood on Oxford Tce. Trekked to newly opened red zone Hereford St Bridge.
Cambridge Tce/ Hereford St: Snapped Library Chambers demolition site below the new Council multi-storey.
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Cambridge Tce, E view of sewage polluted Avon River & 2 yellow diggers on a restaurants demolition site, Oxford Tce red zone. Closed, dead, CBD bldgs behind
29.10.11. Orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Hereford St Bridge, W view of Library Chambers demolition site, Hereford St / Cambridge Tce. New Council bldg behind, serial quake damaged, but repaired
29.10.11. Hereford St Bridge, E view of 12:00 opened Hereford St, CBD red zone cordon. Dusty, skeleton bldgs all closed, dead
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Yellow / orange, Hi-Vis vested cops. Hereford St Bridge, N view, Hereford St / Oxford Tce. Red zone, dead zone, CBD bldgs & crane behind cordon fence
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Hereford St Bridge, SE view, post Feb 22 quake restaurants demolition site, 2 yellow diggers on rubble, Oxford Tce, just after 12:00 opening of red zone by Restart Cashel Mall
Hereford St: Crossing Avon River, I snapped dusty ghosts, besmirched by USAR / TF graffiti, in the newly opened red zone, Oxford Tce side. A ubiquitous EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT threat sign hung on the steel mesh cordon before Scorpio Books ghost. Along Hereford St, the red zone, steel mesh fence cordon resumed just beyond a Cashel Mall demolition site / another new Wilson $1/hr carpark.
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. 2 red cranes. Hereford St, N view, demolition cranes, Oxford Tce, looking towards Worcester St Bridge & serial quake damaged Our City bldg
29.10.11. Closed, dead, red zone, CBD shops, with USAR / TF graffiti, Hereford St. C meant CLEAR no bodies
Like I'd often seen over the last 8 months, since the Feb 22 Killer Quake, whenever a bit of the red zone, steel mesh fence cordon was opened, citizens gathered, staring through the steel mesh fence cordon into the ghost CBD, down ghost streets: ghost bldgs, demo sites, quake wasteland.
29.10.11. Eastern view, red zone, CBD steel mesh fence cordon, Hereford St, soon after 12:00 opening of Restart Cashel Mall, shipping container shops. Dusty, closed, skeleton bldgs beyond. Most of the masonry bldgs on the right side of the pic would be demolished. Green, wooden, Shands Emporium would stand alone, awaiting relocation to Manchester St
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Hereford St demolition site / carpark view, Oxford Tce restaurants, demolition site & bldg survivors on 12:00 opened Restart Cashel Mall, 8 months post Feb 22 quake. Abandoned, Shands Emporium left awaited relocation to Manchester St
29.10.11. Citizens staring through the orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon into Hereford St red zone, dead zone, 8 months post Feb 22 quake, shortly after 12:00 opening of Restart Cashel Mall red zone
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. W view, Hereford St, soon after 12.00, partial opening of Hereford St red zone & Restart Cashel Mall red zone, 8 months post Feb 22 quake
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Hereford St demolition site, N view, Hereford St, closed, dead, red zone bldgs, soon after 12:00 opening of red zone, Restart Cashel Mall, 8 months post Feb 22 quake
Restart Cashel Mall: Tekking through the carpark, I snapped quake trashed, demolition in progress, Hotel Grand Chancellor left & right, Oxford Tce restaurant demolition sites by the carpark, 2 diggers parked on rubble with a view over Avon River.
29.10.11. Hereford St, demolition site view, Feb 22 quake trashed, Hotel Grand Chancellor, demolition in progress
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. White front end loader. Hereford St, demolition site view, 2 diggers, Oxford Tce restaurants demolition site
End of the carpark, by a new wooden fence, 2 cops stood by people joining the Restart Cashel Mall crowd. Speeches began. The crowd was still. Latecomers like me stayed outside the wooden fence. I found a wheelbarrow amongst demolition junk & stood on it, enabling me to see speech -makers over the wooden fence.
29.10.11. Speech by Brownlee, Minister of Earthquake Recovery, Restart Cashel Mall, opening of shipping container shops
29.10.11. Speech by PM Key. CERA boss Sutton, seated right, opening of shipping container shops, Restart Cashel Mall
Minister of Earthquake Recovery, Brownlee spoke, PM Key spoke, mayor Parker spoke, others spoke from a wooden podium in the middle of Cashel Mall, surrounded by people, quake survivor bldgs, young oak trees & Restart shipping container shops, painted bright colours, no more than 2 storeys high.
While listening to speeches, peoples' faces said it all. We'd all been to hell & back. National speeches used hard work by Restart Cashel Mall businesses for electioneering: Christchurch citizens would vote in droves for National at the next election, then got nasty aftershocks from NZ National govt: 1. Didn't control slow EQC & insurers. 2. Allowed unelected CERA officials & unelected ECAN commissioners to dictate to Cantabrians. 3. Allowed an unelected Crown Observer & later an unelected commissioner into squabbling Council as Mr Fixits. 4 Allowed Ministry of Education ineptocrats to mess Canterbury schools with poorly consulted closures & mergers.
Over the next year Cantabrians would protest in the streets, spewing disillusionment, anger. We would endure many Council, CERA, NZ National govt, business cockalorums over the next few years.
29.10.11. Crowd listening to speeches at Restart Cashel Mall, shipping container shops
29.10.11. Listening faces, part of Restart Cashel Mall crowd.
29.10.11. Crowd listening to speeches at Restart Cashel Mall, shipping container shops
29.10.11. Crowd moving along Restart Cashel Mall, after speeches at opening of shipping container shops
29.10.11. Speech podium in crowd, Restart Cashel Mall, shipping container shops
29.10.11. Crowd, Restart Cashel Mall, opening of shipping container shops
After speeches, the crowd moved forward, from formal focus on speeches to informal shopping. Amongst watchful cops & security goons, Brownlee & Key mingled, pressing the flesh, smiling broadly. Key smiled so much, like he'd personally built Restart Cashel Mall, shipping container shops.
29.10.11. Crowd along Restart Cashel Mall, opening of shipping container shops
29.10.11. Brownlee, Minister of Earthquake Recovery, working the crowd before elections, Restart Cashel Mall opening of shipping container shops
29.10.11. Crowd, Restart Cashel Mall, opening of shipping container shops
29.10.11. PM Key working the crowd before elections, Restart Cashel Mall, opening of shipping container shops
29.10.11. Crowd, Restart Cashel Mall, opening of shipping container shops
29.10.11. PM Key working the crowd, Restart Cashel Mall, opening of shipping container shops
29.10.11. Crowd, Restart Cashel Mall, opening of shipping container shops
29.10.11. Crowd, Restart Cashel Mall, opening of shipping container shops
Restart Cashel Mall / Colombo St: At The Crossing, a wooden fence bordered the red zone again, ghost high-rises looming. People stood at the wooden, cordon fence, staring stared into the CBD red zone, desolation wreaked by quakes & CERA demolitions.
Red zone cordon fences had contracted, slightly, but citizens would wait for months to enter the ghost CBD, while CERA boss Sutton & Brownlee manipulated people's lives, both hiding behind an anonymous, media spokeswoman's skirts.
29.10.11. Restart Cashel Mall cordon fence by red zoned CBD at The Crossing, Colombo St. All bldgs in the red zone, dead, closed by the Feb 22 quake
Restart Cashel Mall: I trekked amongst shipping container shops, snapping colourful shops, the crowd. At a shop window where a live model wore only knickers & bra, my camera battery expired.
29.10.11. Crowd, Restart Cashel Mall, shipping container shops, northern precinct
Returned later that afternoon with recharged battery & Leah (she'd lectured teacher students that morning) & resumed snapping the happy crowd & shipping container shops. Earlier at a coffee shop a customer queue had started. Hours later the queue was still there. People drank wine at cafe tables.
*Trekked St Asaph St, Colombo St, Lichfield St, Oxford Tce, Cambridge Tce, Hereford St, Cashel Mall. 272 snaps.
Coda:
Oct 2012. A year later, Restart Cashel Mall shipping container shops would still do business, but the ghost CBD rebuild had stalled, citizens still banned from the red zone CBD, amidst 100s of dusty, demolition sites & CERA's Christchurch Central Development Unit, CCDU Blueprint hype. CBD would still be riddled with steel mesh fence cordons.
Mwanwhile, 1 000s of eastern suburb citizens enduring quake broken homes, waited for EQC & insurers to hurry up, while NZ National govt did zilch about slow insurers.
EQC & insurers did stupid things, like assessing semi-detached house units & semi-detached flats with differing assessments, differing insurers & risible outcomes, like one half of a semi-detached house deemed to be demolished, the other half deemed repairable, with shared walls on the same concrete slab foundation.
2016. Restart Cashel Mall would still be going, while new retail shops & offices were built along Cashel Mall, like BNZ Centre & ANZ Centre, both Centres opened late 2016.
29.10.11. Newly opened, shipping container shops, N precinct view, S precinct, Restart Cashel Mall
29.10.11. Newly opened shipping container shops, S precinct, Restart Cashel Mall
29.10.11. Shipping container shops, southern precinct, Restart Cashel Mall
29.10.11. Shipping container shops & quake demolition site / carpark, southern precinct, Restart Cashel Mall
29.10.11. Quake obsolete sign, Cashel St / Oxford Tce
29.10.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Orange digger, yellow digger on rubble. Feb 22 quake trashed restaurants demolition, Oxford Tce, between Hereford St / Cashel St
29.10.11. Post Feb 22 quake, USAR / TF graffiti, Oxford Tce / Hereford St
29.10.11. Trailer fruit juice shop, pure pulp, Oxford Tce, nr Restart Cashel Mall. Dead, red zone cordon bldgs beyond. Clarendon Tower left, awaiting demolition
29.10.11. Wilson $1/hr carpark on DTZ bldg demolition site, Oxford Tce, by Restart Cashel Mall. Dead, red zone bldgs beyond.
29.10.11. Closed, NZDF checkpoint hut, ex red zone cordon, Oxford Tce / Lichfield St
Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
