Year 2 CERA. CBD Red Zone: Les Mills Gym, Calendar Girls Reopening

Les Mills Gym, Calendar Girls reopening focus. Fri 30.03.12. Thirteen months post 22.02.11,  M6.3 Killer Quake, Les Mills Gym on Cashel St reopened in Christchurch red zone CBD. Post 22.02.11 Killer Quake, Les Mills Gym was one of the first businesses to reopen after Civil Defence & CERA occupied & closed Christchurch CBD behind steel mesh fence cordons. Calendar Girls strip club behind, on Hereford St, would reopen a week later, Thurs 05.04.12.

30.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Holden Blackwells demolition,  Cashel St / Madras St

Cashel St / Madras St crossing: my trek down Cashel St was blocked by a red zone, steel mesh fence cordon. Holden Blackwells was being demolished, opp steel mesh fence cordoned, CTV demolition site, where 115 people perished, when CTV collapsed & burned, 22.02.11 Killer Quake.

30.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Latimer Hotel rebuild, Worcester St / Latimer Sq

 

 

Drove to Worcester St where I parked opp Latimer Hotel rebuild. Workmen in orange, Hi-Vis vests & hard hats laid new Latimer Hotel foundations. Five months before, I'd snapped Latimer Hotel demolition. Across the road, behind a shipping container cordon on a demolition site, stood steel mesh fence cordoned, Park Tower On Latimer ghost.

30.03.12. Quake abandoned, Park Tower On Latimer, Latimer Sq

Short circuit into former red zone: Trekked across Latimer Sq & looked at 2 sucker trucks & workmen cleaning a drain in Latimer Sq, by Madras St / Hereford St junction. Beyond red zone, steel mesh cordon fence: many demolition sites, ghost high-rises still to be demolished.

CERA Greater Christchurch Recovery Update, Issue 8, Mar 2012 boasted about UK's Twinkletoes, giant, demolition digger demolishing PWC high-rise ending in Dec 2012, nearly 2 years post 22.02.11 Killer Quake. PWC's drop zone caused nearby bldgs to be trapped & closed in the red zone cordon, until PWC vanished. Thereafter for a decade, PWC concrete basement & concrete column stumps, twisted steel rebars sticking out, would be fence cordoned, abandoned to black-billed gull nesters. PWC demo site would become part of the planned RC Cathedral precinct opp Victoria Park. 2024. RC clergy finally decided to rebuild the new RC Cathedral on Christchurch Basilica demolition site.

Meanwhile EQC still stalled damaged house payouts, jabbering about "apportionment" for damages / payouts caused by XL quakes. Latest excuse for EQC delaying payouts: EQC waited for a Dept of Building & Housing report, regarding green-blue, TC3 house foundations. (Due in May). While that EQC delay-defer-deny went on, stricken householders would wait... (The Press 02.04.12).

30.03.12. Post quake sucker trucks, Latimer Sq

30.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. CBD, red zone, Arrow House demolition site, diggers & rubble crusher. CTV demolition site & ghost IRD beyond, Madras St / Hereford St / Latimer Sq junction. 2019, Arrow House demo site would become Liverpool Terraces apartments

30.03.12. Latimer Sq view, red zone demolition sites, Hereford St. IRD left, Les Mills gym middle. 2019, The demo sites would become Liverpool Terraces apartments behind Les Mills Gym

30.03.12. Former red zone, Calendar Girls strip club, middle, Hereford St. Orange, demolition digger left, red zone, abandoned CBD bldgs beyond. For Liverpool Terraces apartments, Calender Girls would be demolished & relocate near Christchurch Casino

30.03.12. Former red zone, Les Mills gym left, Calendar Girls right, Hereford St. Red zone, CBD bldgs beyond

30.03.12. Red zone, Madras St / Hereford St view, Arrow House, demolition site diggers, green, rubble crusher. 2019, Liverpool Terraces apartments would be built on Arrow House demo site

30.03.12. Latimer Sq view, red zone, Arrow House demolition site workman hosing demolition dust, Madras St / Hereford St. CTV demolition site, IRD beyond. CTV demo site would become a memorial park. IRD bldg survived the quakes. 2019. Liverpool Terraces apartments would be built on Arrow House demo site   

Latimer Sq / Hereford St / Madras St: Opp St Johns Anglican Church demolition site, on Arrow House demolition site, 2 diggers dug up demolition rubble, dumping it on a green, crusher machine, with a conveyor belt, forming heaps of powdery rubble. Workmen in hard hats & orange, Hi-Vis vests operated the green, crusher machine. Another workman hosed the site, stopping dust pollution. No workmen wore masks. Silicosis pending! CTV demolition site behind, forgotten in the clamour of crunching machines.

30.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Latimer Sq view, red zone Hereford St, Calendar Girls left

30.03.12. Former red zone, Calendar Girls, Hereford St. Calendar Girls would be demolished, relocated near Christchurch Casino. 2019. Liverpool Terraces apartments would be build on Calendar Girls demo site 

30.03.12. Red zone, Hereford St / Liverpool St view, Latimer Sq left. Calendar Girls right would be demolished for 2019 built, Liverpool Terraces apartments. Calendar Girls would relocate to near Christchurch Casino

30.03.12. Red zone, Torrens House behind steel mesh fence cordon, 13 months so far, Hereford St. Torrens House would be demolished, 2013, for CERA's Blueprint E Frame / Rauora Park

Trekked Hereford St, to the red zone, steel mesh fence cordon, past another demolition site & a big, orange digger parked between Calendar Girls & Les Mills Gym. Snapped red zone ghosts on Hereford St & Hereford St / Manchester St crossing, where workmen in hard hats & orange, Hi-Vis vests roamed.

Many ghosts were demolished in the red zone CBD. Significance of Les Mills & Calendar Girls: only quake-survivors on their sides of Cashel St & Hereford St respectively. Rest of the 2 streets had some survivors, opp the gym & strip club, but most ghosts were demolished in the block between Madras St & Liverpool St. That was the pattern in the red zone CBD: some survivor bldgs, surrounded by demolition wasteland.

Yet Council & CERA planned to rebuild on quaked, demolition land, above Christchurch Fault, which caused Boxing Day quake, causing more CBD damage, post 04.09.10 Darfield Quake. And rebuild on demolition land, over underground streams, capped wells & drained swampland near Avon River. Given CBD liquefaction damage, we witnessed greed by rebuilders: planners, surveyors, designers, architects, engineers, builders, Council, CERA!

By 2019, Calendar Girls would be demolished (relocated near Christchurch Casino) for Liverpool Terraces apartments, which would occupy a Hereford St block, between Madras St & beyond absorbed Liverpool St, bordering CERA's E Frame / Rauora Park, all evolving from CERA's Blueprint.

Parker's, Marryatt's Council schemed a 7.47% rates increase. But many ratepayers battled for payouts from EQC & insurers. Council should claim Council rebuild costs from insurers, not ratepayers. Why had town clerk Marryatt underinsured Council assets? (The Press 03.04.12).

A year later, Council in its Three Year Plan, 2013-2016 draft, would make excuses:

"Why didn't the Council have more insurance for its infrastructure?

...No one expected such a huge earthquake causing such massive damage. Decisions were based on expert assessments of the risk from the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, which put our city's seismic risk low.

Why didn't the Council have more insurance for buildings?

Before the earthquakes, Council's assets were insured for close to $1.9 billion on a full reinstatement basis per asset. [21.12.15. The Press reported that Council would only get $635m global payout for Council's insured assets. So much for bullshit, $1.9 billion insurance!]

This was based on advice from professional valuers. The gap between insurance & rebuild costs is the extra cost required to make our buildings meet 100 percent of new building standards and introduce improvements. Unlike open-ended replacement household insurance, our facilities were covered to a set value based on repairs to 33 percent of the value of the new building code..."

Fudging. Many pre-quake bldgs, which collapsed in quakes in the CBD, were nowhere near 33% latest bldg code when quakes hit, as Council had allowed bldg owners decades to get their old bldgs up to code. Parker & Marryatt were ducking responsibility for under insuring Council infrastructure & assets!

Yet NZ National govt / CERA would soon pressurize Council to sell its assets to pay for NZ National govt's / CERA's Blueprint CBD.

As shown by the Royal Commission of Inquiry & Coroners Inquest, like other slack authorities (bldg design engineers, construction engineers, inspection engineers, construction managers, bldg owners, cops, USAR / TF management, fire service management) Council was good at buck-passing.

30.03.12. ROAD CLOSED. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Liverpool St / Hereford St, W view, red zone, CBD, Hereford St. 2019. Foreground CBD would be part of Liverpool Terraces apartments, bordering CERA's Blueprint E Frame / Rauora Park

Trekked along Liverpool St to Cashel St, snapping red zone, Oaks Smartstay apartments ghost with quake broken windows. Beyond, desolate, demolition sites from Cashel St to High St. Two new carparks, smelling of new asphalt, flanked Les Mills Gym.

 30.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Liverpool St view, red zone CBD. Holiday Inn & Westpac behind, awaited demolition

30.03.12. Liverpool St demolition site view, red zone Torrens House, Hereford St. Torrens House would be demolished in 2013 for CERA's Blueprint E Frame / Rauora Park

30.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Red zone, orange digger, parked behind Calendar Girls, Liverpool St

 

30.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Red zone, abandoned bldg, Liverpool St. New carpark by Les Mills gym right

30.03.12. Yellow stickered, USAR / TF graffiti, glass door, red zone, Liverpool St

30.03.12. Quake broken, glass door panes, red zone, Liverpool St

30.03.12. Quake broken, window pane, red zone, Liverpool St

30.03.12. ROAD CLOSED. Steel mesh fence cordon. Liverpool St view, red zone, Cashel St & across demolition sites to red zone, High St

30.03.12. Quake broken, Oaks Smartstay windows, red zone, Liverpool St

30.03.12. Liverpool St / Cashel St W view, red zone, CBD, closed high rises, Holiday Inn awaited demolition left, Oaks Smartstay right

30.03.12. Liverpool St / Cashel St view, Cashel St / Manchester St crossing, red zone, CBD. 13 months closed, Grumpy Mole bar, middle. Holiday Inn awaited demolition beyond

 

30.03.12. Cashel St, red zone view, demolition sites to Tuam St / High St junction. Quake trashed, McKenzie Willis bldg left. Recently reopened Alice in Videoland, white bldg, middle

 

Cashel St: Snapped more ghosts behind the red zone, steel mesh fence cordon. USAR / TF graffiti still besmirched doors of cordon-closed bldgs, 13 months post Feb 22 Killer Quake.

30.03.12. Red zone bldgs, serial quake survivors, Cashel St

30.03.12. CBD, red zone, USAR / TF graffiti on door, Cashel St 

30.03.12. EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT. Steel mesh fence cordon. CBD red zone, Cashel St. Closed, IRD bldg left

 

Les Mills Gym buzzed with customers, eager for exercise. Personnel stood behind the reception counter welcoming people. Across Cashel St, IRD ghost loomed in the red zone. IRD would survive the quakes but stayed empty for years. 2021. IRD would still be empty.

30.02.12. Red zone, reopened Les Mills gym, Cashel St. New carpark, CTV bldg, demolition site beyond

30.03.12. EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT. Steel mesh fence cordon. Bikes by reopened Les Mills Gym, Cashel St. Red zone, IRD bldg beyond. IRD bldg would survive the quakes

Les Mills Gym window sign:

                            This facility and structure has been
                                               certified as

                                              A GRADE
                                                   
                     Based on Earthquake Risk Grading Systems as
 defined by the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering Inc

30.03.12. Reopened Les Mills gym, W view, red zone, Cashel St

30.03.12. New carpark view, Les Mills gym, side window, lane between Cashel St & Hereford St

Between Les Mills bldg & CTV demolition site, another new carpark, smelling of fresh asphalt. Close to CTV demolition site, workmen crushed rubble on the green, rubble crusher. When I trekked by, workmen sat drinking morning tea, before completing asphalting the lane between Cashel St & Hereford St.

30.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. New carpark view, red zone Cashel St. IRD bldg left, Les Mills gym right. All bldgs in the pic would survive the quakes

30.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. New carpark view, red zone, abandoned, IRD bldg, Cashel St. IRD bldg would survive the quakes, but would stay empty for years. 2021. IRD bldg would still be empty

30.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Red zone, CTV demolition site view, Madras St / Cashel St crossing. St Pauls Trinity Pacific Presbyterian Church, demolition site beyond. CTV demo site would become a memorial  park

30.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. New carpark view, CTV demolition site, Madras St / Cashel St crossing, Holden Blackwells demolition site. CTV demo site would become a memorial park

  

30.03.12. Orange digger loading red zone, Arrow House, demolition rubble, Madras St. 2019. The demo site would become Liverpool Terraces apartments

30.03.12. Steel mesh fence cordon. Yellow digger loading red zone, Arrow House, demolition rubble onto green, rubble crusher, Hereford St. 2019. The demo site would become Liverpool Terraces apartments. Aug 2012. Newstalk ZB beyond would be imploded

 

 

30.03.12. Post quake demolition site, orange digger, Hereford St. Les Mills gym left, Calendar Girls middle, Torrens House right awaited demolition

 

30.03.12. Digger bucket, steel mesh fence cordoned, red zone, demolition site, Hereford St. Torrens House left awaited demolition. Aug 2012. Newstalk ZB middle would be imploded. Latimer Sq trees right

30.03.12. Former red zone, new asphalt on lane between Cashel St & Hereford St. Les Mills gym left. Calendar Girls behind digger middle. Torrens House awaited demolition right

 

30.03.12. Tangled, salvaged rebars. Red zone, Arrow House, demolition site, Hereford St / Madras St. Holden Blackwells, demolition site beyond. 2019. Arrow House demo site would become Liverpool Terraces apartments

Demolition rubble, crushing clamour continued, while I trekked back to my car, across Latimer Sq.

30.03.12. Hereford House, demolition site, behind hedge, Latimer Sq / Hereford St

*Trekked Cashel St, Worcester St, Latimer Sq, Hereford St, Liverpool St, Madras St. 96 images.

The Press, 28.03.12 reported that Councillors wanted to spend $91 million, transforming red zone, CBD, one-way streets into two-way streets again, after decades of free-flowing traffic on one-way streets. The idea was to slow down traffic on two-way streets & encourage people back to the post quake CBD. The new CBD traffic system would cause $91 million traffic jams, long after those Councillors left.

By 2018, Durham St Sth, one-way, would become a mess, traffic slowed by widened pavements. St Asaph St, one-way became worse, two traffic lanes encroached by a cycle lane & parking. Manchester St would become a mess, two-way traffic slowed by widened pavements, bus lanes, bus stops, many traffic lights at intersections.

$91 million could've been better spent fixing many lumpy, potholed roads, going to stricken, eastern suburbs. Third World roads I often drove: Pages Rd, Warrington St, Shirley Rd, New Brighton Rd, Travis Rd, Rookwood Ave, Bowhill Rd... all needed fixing.

Weekend Press 31.3.12-1.4.12 reported that CERA wanted to tender out bus tours into the red zone CBD, despite CERA running its recent "gold coin" bus tours at a loss into the CBD red zone, where people were invited to farewell ruined CBD in late 2011.

If NZ National govt / CERA couldn't profit, how would private bus contractors profit? Never mind Christchurch citizens banned from CERA occupied, red zone, CBD for more than a year. 13 months post 22.02.11 Killer Quake, NZDF checkpoints & steel mesh fence cordons still stopped citizens entering CERA occupied, red zone, CBD. CERA apartheid reigned supreme.

While Council dithered with a red zone, CBD road plan, CERA dithered with red zone, CBD bus tours, saying nothing about Council's road plan. Who / what was in charge of Christchurch quake recovery, CERA or Council?

Sat 31.3.12. 7.54am, M3.8 quake, 10km depth, 20km E of Christchurch (GeoNet). Rattled our windows.

Wed 03.04.12, 7.04am, M3.8 quake, 8km depth, 20km NE of Lyttelton. (GeoNet). I didn't feel it as I was at Hornby, about 30km from the epicentre. Leah didn't feel it at Burnside, about 20km from the epicentre. Quake depth & personal distance from an epicentre made the difference between smugness & shaking.

Good Fri 06.04.12, 11.33pm, M4.2 quake, 10km depth, 20km W of Christchurch. (GeoNet). Shook our house. Sunny, autumn day. Full moon rising.

Content & pics, Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.

See $91m to turn one way streets to two way (The Press / Stuff Co).

See EQC denies payout freeze (The Press / Stuff Co).

See Ratepayers face 7.47 percent increase (The Press / Stuff Co)

See Good News on Chch's insurance shambles has been a long time coming (The Press / Stuff Co).