Paradox: CERA used taxpayers' money to demolish red zone bldgs, while Alice in Videoland made money from taxpayers & paid taxes for CERA to continue demolitions.
Post 1931 Napier quake, PO architect, John Thomas Mair, built the concrete PO in 1932, so JT knew about strong foundations & concrete reinforcement in a quake zone. Pity bldgs around the old PO were so weak, as Alice in Videoland was surrounded by demolition sites.
17.03.12. DANGER KEEP OUT. St Asaph St view: McKenzie Willis demolition site view to Tuam St & red zone CBD. 2019. The area would be Salt District rebuilds
17.03.12. St Asaph St, McKenzie Willis, demolition site view, Alice in Videoland middle, Tuam St, red zone, CBD. 2019. The area would be Salt District rebuilds
17.03.12. St Asaph St demolition site view: Serial quake trashed High St properties. 2019. The area would be Salt District rebuilds
Brickbat for CERA for issuing so many section 38's, demolition orders to owners of surrounding red zone bldgs in St Asaph St, Tuam St, High St, Manchester St. 2018-19. Some of the High St bldgs would be saved & refurbished, the area would be called Salt District.
17.03.12. St Asaph St view: McKenzie Willis demolition site view to Tuam St & red zone CBD. 2019. The area would be Salt District
17.03.12. St Asaph St, McKenzie Willis, demolition site view: Alice in Videoland left, Tuam St, red zone CBD. Abandoned, old Majestic Theatre beyond, Lichfield St, awaited demolition. 2019. The area would be Salt District
I parked on St Asaph St by the McKenzie Willis demolition site, where I looked through a red zone, steel mesh fence cordon, past more demolition sites & across Tuam St to Alice in Videoland. The St Asaph St demolition site was an eyesore with 22.02.11, M6.3 Killer Quake ghosts, teetering testaments to death-trap owners' & insurers' hesitations & CERA's slow demolitions.
Behind a steel mesh fence cordon, relocation sign on a tree:
Now opening at...
181 Blenheim
Road
Come and visit us at our
new premises for all your
home furnishing needs.
Steel mesh fence cordon, threat sign:
EXTREME
DANGER
KEEP
OUT
17.03.12. EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT. Steel mesh fence cordon. St Asaph St alley view: Red zone CBD, Westpac left, Holiday Inn middle awaiting demolition. Hotel Grand Chancellor middle, demolition in progress. Alice in Videoland, Tuam St right
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. St Asaph St alley view: McKenzie Willis demolition site, red zone, CBD
CERA still had many demolitions to do before the CBD red zone would open properly. Apart from Riverlands House, Copthorne Hotel, DTZ, Securities House & Brannigans high-rise demolitions & tinkering with Hotel Grand Chancellor & Crowne Plaza Hotel demolitions for months, so far, many ghost high-rises would still be demolished in Christchurch red zone CBD.
17.03.12. St Asaph St alley view: McKenzie Willis demolition site view of serial quake trashed properties, High St. 2019. The area would be Salt District
More than a year post 22.02.11 Killer Quake, high-rises had hardly been touched by CERA demolishers: BNZ, Grant Thornton, Clarendon Tower, PWC... still to be demolished. CERA disingenuously took credit for opening a corner of the CBD red zone, Manchester St / Tuam St, by letting Alice in Videoland trade again, with so many high-rise demolitions still to go.
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Serial quake survivors: the drawing room left, Odeon Theatre middle, Manchester St. Odeon Theatre would be demolished, Tuam St facade saved
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Yellow digger. Serial quake survivor, Odeon Theatre, Manchester St. Odeon Theatre would be demolished, Tuam St facade saved
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. St Asaph St / Manchester St, demolition site view: red zone CBD, Odeon Theatre left, Real Groovy middle, Westpac right. Westpac would be demolished. Real Groovy would be demolished. Odeon Theatre would be demolished, Tuam St facade saved
17.03.12. St Asaph St / Manchester St demolition site view, red zone high rises: Westpac left, Holiday Inn middle, Hotel Grand Chancellor demolition right. The 3 high rises would be demolished
17.03.12. NZDF checkpoint view, St Asaph St / Manchester St crossing & S view, Manchester St to Port Hills. Post 22.02.11 quake, the NZDF checkpoint was at the crossing for more than a year, then moved N to High St crossing
17.03.12. ROAD CLOSED. Manchester St / Tuam St crossing, W view, red zone Tuam St. Real Groovy left, old Council bldg middle right. Odeon Theatre facade, middle left, would be saved after the rest of the theatre was demolished. The facade would be supported for years by stacked shipping containers, obstructing traffic. Real Groovy & old Council bldg would be demolished. The old Council bldg site would become the Bus Interchange site
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Manchester St / Tuam St crossing view, red zone CBD. Westpac awaited demolition behind.
17.03.12. AUTHORISED VEHICLES ONLY. Steel mesh fence cordon. Manchester St / Tuam St crossing view, red zone CBD. Westpac left, Holiday Inn right awaited demolition
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Manchester St / Tuam St crossing N view: New NZDF checkpoint, Manchester St / High St crossing, red zone, CBD. The 8 storey bldg behind the orange Nucleus sculpture would be abandoned for years then refurbished as The Muse Art Hotel
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Stacked shipping containers, bracing a serial quake trashed facade, between Manchester St / Tuam St crossing & a new NZDF checkpoint, Manchester St / High St crossing
New NZDF checkpoint, Manchester St / Tuam St / High St crossings, steel mesh fence cordon, threat signs:
NO
PUBLIC
ACCESS
ROAD
CLOSED
EXTREME
DANGER
KEEP
OUT
ACCESS POINT
HOURS OF OPERATION
6AM TO 7PM DAILY
OUTSIDE THIS TIME USE
MANCHESTER ST / CAMBRIDGE TCE
ACCESS POINT
Why wasn't CERA demolishing 24/7, hastening recovery?
All CERA did was move its occupying NZDF checkpoint about 100m down Manchester St, from St Asaph St crossing, past Tuam St crossing to High St crossing, to allow Alice in Videoland trade. The old PO wasn't fully opened to the public, as the red zone, steel mesh fence cordon across Tuam St, started half way along the bldg. High St was still closed. It would become C1 Cafe entrance.
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Tuam St / Manchester St, weedy demolition site view, red zone CBD. Westpac left, Holiday Inn middle awaited demolition
17.03.12. Old & new billboards, Tuam St / Manchester St demolition site & view into red zone CBD
Old brick wall, old ad covered by billboard:
Let's build our
new city together
- kia kaha
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Red zone CBD view from Alice in Videoland, Tuam St. Abandoned, old Majestic Theatre behind, Lichfield St, awaited demolition
It would take years for CERA to demolish remaining high-rises. Even Council was more effective in demolishing Manchester Courts post 04.09.10, M7.1 Darfield Quake. With no red zone, citizens wandering the precinct too. CERA was bogged by bureaucratic inertia, overpaid bureaucrats, slow workers.
17.03.12. Alice in Videoland, post quake re-opening, Tuam St
17.03.12. ROAD CLOSED. Steel mesh fence cordon. Alice in Videoland re-opening by red zone, CBD wasteland, Tuam St / High St
17.03.12. ROAD CLOSED. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Alice in Videoland, re-opening view of quake demolition site & steel braced McKenzie Willis, Tuam St / High St. 2019. The area would be Salt District
While CERA did slow demolitions in the red zone CBD, CERA boss Sutton soliloquized in The Star 16.03.12, how the Port Hills were divided into segments for geologists & geotech engineers to decide whether bits of Port Hills were prone to quake rockfall, cliff-fall or hill subsidence.
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Alice in Videoland, re-opening view, TV 3 News SUV & Tuam St / Manchester St crossing. Odeon Theatre left would be demolished, Tuam St facade retained, supported for years by stacked shipping containers, obstructing traffic. Real Groovy right would be demolished
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Alice in Videoland re-opening, TV 3 News, camera man & anchor girl, Tuam St. Quake demolition sites behind, Manchester St
17.03.12. Alice in Videoland re-opening, owner talking to TV 3 News camera man, Tuam St
After 10 000 quakes, claptrap about rockfall, computer modelling was no excuse for CERA's delays affecting white zoners' lives. Meanwhile Port Hills white zoners still waited for CERA to do their land rezoning by the end of June, so white zoners could get on with their limbo-lives, more than a year post 22.02.11 Killer Quake.
17.03.12. ROAD CLOSED. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Alice in Videoland re-opening view: quake demolition site, steel braced McKenzie Willis, Tuam St / High St. 2019. The area would be Salt District
While I snapped demolition sites around Alice in Videoland, Tuam St / High St, more photographers & video shoppers saw the same. A TV 3 News team interviewed video shop owners outside & inside Alice in Videoland.
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Alice in Videoland reopening, TV 3 News camera man & anchor girl, Tuam St
17.03.12. ROAD CLOSED. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Re-opening Alice in Videoland view: Quake demolition site & steel braced McKenzie Willis, Tuam St / High St. 2019. The area would be Salt District
CERA decided many old & new, red zone, CBD ghosts would be demolished, leaving Alice in Videoland a concrete island in weedy wasteland. It would be years before Alice in Videoland had rebuilt neighbours, due to slow CERA rebuild.
17.03.12. ROAD CLOSED. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Alice in Videoland re-opening, E view along red zone Tuam St. 2019. The area would be Salt District
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Alice in Videoland reopening, W view along red zone Tuam St. Real Groovy left awaited demo. Old, Council bldg mid right would be demolished for the Bus Interchange
17.03.12. Alice in Videoland re-opening, Tuam St / Manchester St, demolition site view into red zone CBD
17.03.12. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Manchester St / Tuam St crossing, N view, new NZDF checkpoint, Manchester St / High St crossing
17.03.12. Manchester St demolition site view: Re-opened Alice in Videoland left, quake demolition site right, Tuam St / High St. 2019. The area would be Salt District
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Post quake demolition site view, Odeon Theatre left, Real Groovy right, Manchester St / Tuam St. Real Groovy & Odeon Theatre would be demolished, Tuam St facade saved, supported by stacked shipping containers, blocking traffic for years
17.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Yellow / black digger. Manchester St, post quake demolition site view, Odeon Theatre, awaiting demolition. Tuam St facade was saved, supported by stacked shipping containers, blocking traffic for years
17.03.12. Quake tributes, steel mesh fence cordon, red zone, Manchester St. Odeon Theatre awaited demolition, beyond demolition site,
*Trekked St Asaph St, Manchester St, Tuam St. 130 images.
Sun 18.03.12. 0.55am, M4.3 quake, 10km depth, 10km NE of Diamond Harbour. Rumbled by, shook our pot plants, disturbed our late night TV viewing.
8.19am, M3.8 quake, 11km depth, 10km E of Christchurch. Rattled our windows. (GeoNet).
Mon 19.03.12. Luke started work at Southern Pine Products, Hornby. Over the last 2 years during quakes, he'd completed a builder course at Sullivan Ave Tech, including building a house with other students, & doing part time builder work. Luke's builder boss offered an apprenticeship, which Luke declined. He then did 2 joinery courses, to be well placed for joinery & salvage work during post quake rebuild.
As dad's taxi during quakes & en route to Hornby, where Russley Rd by the airport was upgraded to 4 lanes, I was well placed to comment on Christchurch quakes & aftermath. Did lots of driving around town during quake years, 2010-2013.
Given the volume of 7am, Burnside to Hornby traffic on Russley Rd past Christchurch Airport, Carmen Rd, Waterloo Rd, Main South Rd, & Halswell Junction Rd industrial area, where Luke worked, Hornby was booming. Many suburbs boomed while CERA occupied CBD declined, as CBD businesses had relocated to suburbs. Examples: Rockshop, Manchester St, relocated to Hornby. Fudge Shop, Arts Centre, Worcester Blvd, relocated to Bishopdale. (Fudge Shop would relocate back the Arts Centre after Arts Centre was repaired). Smith's Bookshop, Manchester St, relocated to Woolston...
During Luke's pre-quake, high school days, I drove Luke weekly to Dickens St for drumming lessons off Lincoln Rd, Addington, a seedy area. Post quakes, Lincoln Rd spruced up, new offices built at the bottom of Lincoln Rd, opp Hagley Park & empty business rentals further up Lincoln were tenanted by relocated businesses, like Moroccan restaurant, Mosaic by Simo, Colombo St, which was trashed in the 04.09.10 Darfield Quake. A stark contrast to CBD demolition devastation, steel mesh fence cordoned ghosts & CERA military occupation, citizens banned for years. Like the military, CERA was a destroyer. Could CERA change its military, disaster mindset to creative, rebuild mindset? (How many retired military personnel were in CERA's echelons?)
Sat 24.03.12. 5.09pm, M3.9 quake, 12km depth, 10km E of Christchurch (GeoNet). I didn't feel it, driving my car. Leah & other teachers at the London St school lecture felt it, sharp vertical jolt, shaking the 2 storey bldg, slamming a door.
Wed 28.03.12. 3.04am, M3.8 quake, 10km depth, 10km S of Christchurch. (GeoNet). Woke us up, rattled our windows. Couple of smaller M3+ quakes earlier in the night too. Didn't feel them.
Coda:
Mon 30.07.12. CERA would announce, as part of CERA's Blueprint for Christchurch CBD, land between Manchester St & Madras St would become East Frame parkland. NZ National govt / CERA proposed buying & demolishing properties in the E Frame as a land bank, enabling core CBD properties to retain value.
Nov 2013. CERA would still be in military mindset, bldg demolitions in the CBD & residential red zones, without much rebuilding of new CBD bldgs, nor house rebuilds. Hence the demolition wasteland of CERA's core CBD & commercial ghosts & ghost red zones devoid of housing. Despite CERA's early denial, only in late 2013 would CERA acknowledge there was a post quake housing crisis in Christchurch, mostly of CERA's making, with red zonings & demolitions of commercial bldgs & housing, without rapid replacement. Never mind resultant inflated housing & rental markets causing hardship for quaked citizens.
Oct 2022. After my Oct 2021 Cochlear Implant op, St Georges Hospital, Papanui Rd, I would attend the first movie I heard in 3 decades: "Mrs Harris Goes to Paris" shown at Alice in Videoland Cinema, Tuam St.
Content & pics, Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
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