As Leah had another meeting in Christchurch, I dropped her off at Black Betty Cafe, Manchester St. Black Betty Cafe was so successful at New Brighton it had moved to the CBD opposite Ara polytech. Before I rejoined Leah at Seabrook Mackenzie Centre, I trekked Christchurch's demolished CBD. Since I'd last trekked Christchurch CBD in mid December 2013 there was slow progress by CERA's CCDU. There were some private rebuilds & some Council activities amidst dusty demolition-sites, Wilsons carparks & a few businesses trying to re-establish.
(September 2018. While Leah attended a three-day teacher-conference at rebuild Rydges Hotel, Latimer Sq, I rechecked previous treks described in this post, hence the parenthases. While CBD trekking I saw a CBD buzz: citizens enjoying their new CBD. Still scarred, the CBD was busy).
Christchurch CBD notes:
St Asaph St: Still tatty: backs of part-demolished / abandoned High St buildings were an an eyesore. (September 2018. A High St brick-facade was steel-propped. Behind on St Asaph St side, I saw concrete tilt-slab offices being built. That area would become known as Salt District).
Manchester St / St Asaph St / Tuam St: Both sides of Manchester St demolition-sites were a mess. I saw many demolition-sites still on Poplar St, High St, Tuam St, Lichfield St & Madras St. I saw slow CCDU's green East Frame / Rauora Park. It was still part-demolished & I saw abandoned buildings still rotting on High St near Alice in Videoland.
Opposite EPIC Innovation building the Odeon Theatre's roof was gone from Manchester St roadside. The unclaimed roof had lain there an eyesore for years. Part-demolished Odeon Theatre was still an eyesore, theatre seats & part-demolished auditorium were still exposed to the elements. (September 2018. Odeon Theatre facade was still propped by stacked shipping-containers blocking Tuam St traffic. Ditto September 2019).
Tuam St: The multi-storey Council ruin, asbestos-ridden, was demolished in 2014 for the new Bus Interchange. The temporary bus exchange had worked for a couple of years further west along Tuam St before making way for CERA's Blueprint Justice Precinct.
Manchester St: I saw East Frame blocks between Lichfield St & Worcester St & several demolition-sites which were grassed for East Frame / Rauora Park. Majestic Theatre ruin & a Bedford Row ruin & Shooters & neighbouring ruins were all gone. That tidied section of Manchester St would enable Rauora Park in the East Frame. (September 2018. I trekked grassy Rauora Park which would be a wind-funnel until planted trees formed shelter against southerlies).
Manchester St / Worcester St: Broken Trinity Church / Octagon Restaurant was still an eyesore. Kitsch photo-art of trashed Trinity Church covered its north & south facades. (September 2018. I saw a FOR LEASE real-estate board in front of Trinity Church. 2023. Poor-funding, Trinity Church would still not be completely repaired).
June 2015. Shands Emporium would be relocated next to Trinity Church. Across the road, the post-quake rebuild Westende House would be demolished, July 2015. CCDU wanted to widen Manchester St there to build a bus-stop. (September 2018. I saw a shingle carpark on Westende demolition-site by Rauora Park. Manchester St vehicle-lanes were not widened, only footpaths were widened for pedestrians & bicycles. Slow traffic-lights, new bus-lanes, bus-stops & the 30 km/h speed limit just ensured Manchester St congestion. September 2019. Bus-lanes were dangerous. At one intersection, traffic had to wait for a traffic-light enabling busses to turn left while cutting across waiting traffic. An accident waiting to happen!)
Cathedral Sq: Christ Church Cathedral remained an eyesore, four years so far. The Cathedral was still surrounded by boards & fencing. I saw Arctic promotion boards in front of the western facade which showed various Arctic scenes & research by various countries. The Maori plant whare still stood in front of a fence-closed entrance to the Cathedral's western facade. Asian tourists happy-snapped Cathedral ruins there. (September 2018. I saw no change to Christ Church Cathedral nor its cordon-fence & whare which would soon be removed. Dr Megan Woods, a Labour MP got Regenerate Christchurch to ensure that Christ Church Cathedral would be Reinstated. 2019-20. No Reinstatement. 2021. Reinstatement would begin. 2024. There were Reinstatement cost problems, therefore a change of plan was needed to reduce Reinstatement costs! 2026. Still no Reinstatement!)
The Press had published aerial pics of the east side (apse side) of Christ Church Cathedral rather than the ruined western facade, thus trying to bamboozle public that there was little damage to Christ Church Cathedral. If true, why board up & fence-cordon Christ Church Cathedral stopping public access? (September 2018. Christ Church Cathedral was still a mess, the most expensive pigeon loft in the world. Ditto 2020).
Cathedral Sq: Multi-storey Camelot Hotel awaited its 2015 demolition for Central Library / Turanga rebuild which would open October 2018. Novotel was open. Cathedral Junction was open, the trams were running. Heritage Hotel was open. Millennium Hotel / Distinction Hotel was closed. (Distinction Hotel would open, March 2018. During the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020-21, Distinction Hotel would be a quarantine hotel).
Cathedral Sq: Multi-storey Government Life was being demolished. It was filled with asbestos pollution! Never mind passersby. Gloucester St ruins near the Arcades ruin & Government Life ruin were also being demolished.
Gloucester St: Old Central Library ruin was half-demolished for CCDU's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae. Gloucester St Bridge was still closed for repairs. CERA wanted to spend millions of dollars erecting the new Convention Centre / Te Pae on swampland!. (September 2018. I saw the new Convention Centre's massive steel framework erected next to a heritage building, Isaac House, Colombo St / Armagh St. 2018-21. Convention Centre / Te Pae, a construction in progress).
Colombo St / Hereford St: the BNZ asbestos-polluted multi-story was only part-demolished. Closed Millennium Hotel / Distinction Hotel was next door. (September 2018. BNZ was demolished at last. A new five-storey Spark was being constructed, a massive steel frame similar to the new Convention Centre / Te Pae's steel frame diagonally opposite in Cathedral Sq. Hereford St was reduced to one-lane traffic due to an OPRC-cordon for construction vehicle access).
Colombo St / Cashel Mall: I saw the new BNZ Centre construction site by The Crossing. Pagoda Court ghost, awaiting demolition, was on The Crossing corner. (September 2018. Still abandoned. Sept 2019. Demolished. A new multi-storey was being erected for Kathmandu). Opposite Ballantynes was humming. To enable the new BNZ Centre, Restart Cashel Mall's container-shops opposite Ballantynes were moved closer to the Remembrance Arch nearOxford Tce. (September 2018. I saw Restart Cashel Mall's container-shops were gone, replaced by new Riverside Market shops, 2019).
Oxford Tce: The Mad Cow was demolished for relocated container-shops. Remembrance Arch was boarded for repairs. Remembrance Arch's lions were gone for repairs. The Saturday Flea-market stalls & takeaway food-carts lined Cashel Mall. Pre-quakes, those stalls & carts were at the Arts Centre, Worcester Blvd. (September 2018. I saw Remembrance Arch repairs were completed).
Oxford Tce: I saw The Terrace rebuild was stalled, its steel-skeleton was incomplete, unpainted steel-joint-panels on painted-girders were already rusting! 2015. The Terrace would resume rebuilding. (September 2018. I saw the The Terrace was completed with lanes between buildings. Cafes & bars functioned).
Gloucester St / Durham St Nth: The Provincial Council ruin was still closed for repairs. Opposite on the Amuri Courts demolition-site, a crane was still on-site while the Awly Building office block rebuild progressed. On the opposite corner, Cambridge Tce, Deloitte five-storey office rebuild was almost completed: It had wavy-glass walls, all green-glass panneled. (September 2018. I saw the Provincial Council ruin was still closed for repairs. Awly Building across the road was completed.)
Worcester Blvd: The Art Gallery was closed, fence-cordoned for repairs. The Arts Center was closed, fence-cordoned for repairs. (September 2018. The Arts Centre repairs were still on-going. The Great Hall was open, but the Observatory building was still collapsed, awaiting rebuild).
Rolleston Ave: Canterbury Museum was humming: I saw new displays: old Arctic portable plyboard huts; modern Arctic modular constructions, some portable, as Arctic ice / snow moves. I watched a movie of Sir Edmund Hillary's 1950s expedition to the South Pole, his Sno Cats falling into crevasses en route. An Arctic Sno Cat & tractor was on display.
Botanic Gardens : I saw the Visitor Centre was completed.
Durham St Nth / Chester St West: NZ Radio ruin & Spicers ruin had been demolished for a law office rebuild in progress, Tavendale and Partners.
Durham St Nth / Kilmore St: Crowne Plaza Hotel demolition-site: the Pallet Pavilion was gone. The relocatable wooden Arches still stood on-site. The Gap Filler wooden office was still on-site. I watched a small digger landscaping the site pushing new soil near replanted grass. 2024. The Woooden Arches were still on-site.
Kilmore St: The broken Town Hall was still boarded, no repairs yet. The road was repaired with new tarseal before Forte Health's glassy rebuild. (September 2018. Town Hall was still being repaired. February 2019. Repaired Town Hall was reopened. 2021. Our family would attend Leah's University of Canterbury graduation there. Leah had completed a post-grad literacy diploma while living / teaching in South Canterbury).
Council's Black Map, a Victorian Map showed Christchurch rivers & swamps. The map showed new Forte Heath was built atop an underground stream flowing to Avon River. The CBD's bare-ground after CBD demolitions made it easy for me to see where underground streams ran, where damage was done during quakes. Example: Parallel Kilmore St & Salisbury St & Peterborough St were all built above an underground stream. Those roads were blitzed by the quakes! Broken Town Hall stood on Kilmore St beside Avon River. The multi-storey PGC on Cambridge Tce had collapsed in the 22 February 2011 Quake causing 18 fatalities! It was built on an old, silty levee close to Avon River. Post-quake engineers & architects repeated similar swamp-build stupidity as former CBD swamp-builders. A Bullseye for the next big quake, as Christchurch CBD was built on the Christchurch Fault which killed so many people during the 22 February 2011 Quake!
Peterborough St / Manchester St crossing: Road repairs progressed. I saw that CERA's regrassing diagonally opposite St Lukes demolition-site was overgrown, just like nine months ago when I'd last trekked by. That shabby vegetation insulted families of those who'd died in the nearby PGC multi-storey collapse during the 22 February 2011 Quake. (2021. On the PGC demolition-site, I saw a small, grassy park was backed by new buildings & was fronted by the restored Edmonds Band Rotunda).
Barbadoes St Cemetery by Avon River: I saw many gravestones were still toppled. In the CBD all along slumped Avon River banks, I saw the banks were restored with black-material laid on river-mud & pinned with steel-pins. In places the riverbank repairs narrowed the river, constrictting & speeding up water-flow. (2022. The gravestones were still toppled).
Fitzgerald Ave by the rebuilt northbound bridge overlooking Oxford Tce: While I viewed the residential red-zone's demolition-sites across Avon River where Jake once flatted in Avon Loop, Luke pulled up in his green Toyota van. A Pleasant coincidence. (September 2019. I saw that all residential red-zone houses had been demolished in Avon Loop. Oxford Tce was still being repaired, a riverside boardwalk was being constructed).
Reckoning: 18.11.14. TV 1 news & The Press reported CERA boss Sutton's demise: One of his female staff had complained that Sutton got fresh with female staff, hugged female staff, calling them "honey" & "sweetie" & telling sexist jokes. Sutton announced his resignation at a press conference, admitting mea culpa & whining about exhaustion!
Over 41 months odd since the 13 June 2011 Quake, Sutton oversaw formation of CERA red-zones & green-zones in quaked areas & demolitions of 1 000s of houses in residential red-zones & demolitions of 100s of houses & commercial buildings in Christchurch's CBD red-zone.
Sutton oversaw SCIRT infrastructure road-repairs which were still incompleted, an irritant to road-users due to OPRC detours & poorly repaired roads.
Sutton oversaw CERA's Blueprint for Christchurch's CBD. So far, the CBD was dusty demolition-sites, abandoned buildings, a few struggling businesses, some rebuilds or revamps done by Council or the private sector, some repaired hotels, some New Regent St restored businesses, repaired Cathedral Junction & Restart Cashel Mall container-shops on demolition-sites.
Sutton's unfinished business: No CERA Blueprint anchor-projects were built yet. As for CCDU's Blueprint Frames, many buildings were demolished in the East Frame for Rauora Park & as an afterthought new apartments were planned. The South Frame had surviving businesses like car dealerships which had been screwed around by Sutton's CERA until January 2015 when Sutton left. CERA then decided not to purchase most of those viable South Frame businesses, backtracking on the South Frame, just wanting some green-lanes between buildings.
Sutton's CERA had planted grass in some demolished red-zones & in the demolished CBD's East Frame. CERA's planted & mown grass didn't allow natural plant-succession in red-zones nor did it encourage local fauna back to red-zones. So far, the only rebuild CERA had done was fiddle with Blueprint CBD's Avon River banks & revamp some CBD riverbank paths & gardens.
Sutton's legacy: CERA demolitions, SCIRT & the Blueprint. Sutton's CERA was formed post 22 February 2011 Quake & would only last till April 2016. A 02.09.14 CERA media release read: CERA will become a Department Agency within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet... CERA's puffery during its 2011-2016 tenure would thus be offloaded to the PM's Department & Cabinet. Anyone wanting CERA historical information like zonings, demolitions & media releases... would have to apply to the PM's Department & Cabinet, or other government agencies, or CERA Document Archives which were suggested on CERA's Disestablishment website.
Friday 19.12.14. While Leah had a Xmas function at London St, I trekked the gritty CBD again & saw rebuilding progressing at Poplar St where Jake had flatted pre-quakes. The Odeon Theatre was still part-demolished, an eyesore. TV news featured a Johnny-Come-Lately touting his forthcoming book of broken buildings & had shown him sneaking into SMF-cordoned Odeon Theatre's demolition-site to take pics. I'd taken many pics of post-quake Odeon Theatre. Latest news: photographers sneaking into broken buildings like Christ Church Cathedral & taking pics. That was an indictment of CERA's slow demolitions & slow recovery!
Besides graffiti on ruined-walls, I also saw street art on broken walls, or walls of revamped buildings, like a ballerina mural on the back-wall of revamped Isaac Theatre Royal. Latest street art: colourful fibre-glass giraffes all over the CBD!
Manchester St / Lichfield St: On Majestic Theatre's demolition-site, I saw a Council carpark.
Manchester St / High St: I saw workmen revamping the tram-line.
High St: During lunch hour amongst ruins, at the Brick Farm, I saw a gritty gastro-pub full of boozy men, no women.
Stranges Ln between Lichfield St & High St: I saw three busy, new gastro-pubs in a new-build, a pre-quakes, brick building across the lane. Stranges Ln spooked me, as I didn't trust the old, brick building.
Cashel St / High St crossing: Three diggers were parked atop a massive, concrete rubble-pile, ready for a rebuild.
Cathedral Sq: Christ Church Cathedral ruin was still derelict. The Wizard was back jabbering to tourists, an apprentice Wizard in tow. I saw a man dressed in white leggings, white shirt, black waistcoat & tricorn hat chatting to a hobo. I saw men playing giant-chess nearby. The old Council Library ruin & Government Life ruin had been demolished at last for CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae.
Victoria Sq: Multi-storey Victoria Square apartments had been demolished, also for CERA's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae. The repaired Colombo St Bridge looked good beside abandoned Town Hall.
CERA media release, 10.02.15: Warwick Isaacs to take on new challenge. Like Sutton, all that Isaacs left was a demolished red -zone CBD, mostly demolition-sites & ruins. Some private-sector rebuilds were done. No Blueprint anchor projects had started. Just tinkering with Avon River banks during Isaacs's tenure.
Reckoning: CERA media release, 29.01.15: Residential chapter release paves way for vibrant central city living. Isaacs had left shortly after CERA altered the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan & City Plan (District Plan under Resource Management Act 1991) enabling a quicker rebuild of housing in the CBD, particularly in CCDU's East Frame.
Isaacs: A Liveable City creates a new Central City Residential Zone which gives those building homes more flexibility in their design & allows a range of housing types for those who are keen to look at living in a vibrant central city.
We have a goal of seeing more than 20 000 people living in the central city in attractive neighbourhoods with diverse communities. The residential chapter includes more information on development initiatives such as residential development in the East Frame, an area that will be home to approximately 2 000 people and which will begin construction toward the end of the year. [End of 2016: no residential buildings had started in the East Frame. September 2018. Fletcher had begun expensive, concrete tilt-slab apartments, Lichfield St / Madras St. September 2019. Latimer Terraces, Bedford Terraces & Bedford Apartments were built. Liverpool Terraces was a work in progress. 2022. Lining Manchester St, concrete tilt-slab apartments were built].
The boost to residential activity will encourage further commercial growth and investment as people move into the central city.
The latter was obvious, but it took CERA nearly four years post 22 February 2011 Quake to admit it. CERA's original Blueprint wanted to use East & South Frame as a land-bank cum parkland to improve land values for a favoured few red-zone sections inside the Frame, CERA's so-called core-CBD. Meanwhile, damaged & CERA's cordon-strangled CBD businesses had relocated elsewhere, while CERA dithered.
Isaacs had quit to becoming CEO of Stonewood Homes which soon went into liquidation.
28.02.15. On one of my Christchurch trips, I drove Luke along New Brighton Rd past red-zone Locksley Ave turnoff with views across Kerrs Reach & residential red-zone both sides of Avon River to New Brighton. Luke showed me salvage-sites he'd worked at like red-zone housing-demolitions at Kate Sheppard Retirement Village & red-zone housing-demolitions at New Brighton & Bexley.
We returned to town via Pages Rd past red-zone Bexley, Wairoa St, Waitaki St & Bexley Rd. Most houses in the residential red-zone we passed were demolished. The residential red-zone we saw had scruffy, overgrown vegetation. Pages Rd Bridge was still broken. We saw a new Burger King had been built on a demolition-site, Aldwins Rd / Linwood Ave. Luke said, "Burger King went up pretty quickly in competition with McDonald's & KFC across the road."
Most roads I drove that day like Bealey Ave, Fitzgerald Ave, St Asaph St... were still broken. So much for SCIRT repairs: we saw inferior asphalt, repeatedly laid, patch-on-patch by contractors. Asphalt trucks roamed Christchurch, but new tarseal soon cracked & needed repairs again & again. SCIRT contractors made a fortune doing crap work digging up roads over & over again.
New mayor Dalziel had recently opined it would take another thirty years before Christchurch roads would be up to pre-quake standards. Never mind massive rates increases by her Council.
Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
See Victim upset by Suttons conduct (The Press / Stuff Co)
See Land for anchor projects reduced (The Press / Stuff Co)
See Warwick Isaacs to take on new challenge (CERA media release 10 February 2015)
See Christchurch faces 30 more years of rough roads (The Press / Stuff Co)
See Rauora Park (Christchurch City Council).
