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 moved to the CBD, opp Ara tech. Before I rejoined Leah at Seabrook Mackenzie Centre, I trekked Christchurch's trashed & demolished CBD. Since I'd last trekked Christchurch CBD, 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, few businesses trying to re-establish.
(Sept 2018. While Leah attended a 3 day, teacher-conference at rebuild, Rydges Hotel, Latimer Sq, I rechecked my treks described in this post, hence the parenthases. While CBD trekking, there was a CBD buzz: citizens enjoying their new CBD. Sill scarred, CBD was busy).
Christchurch CBD notes:
St Asaph St: Still tatty: backs of part-demolished / abandoned, High St bldgs, an eyesore. (Sept 2018. High St, brick-facade, steel propped. Behind, St Asaph St side, concrete, tilt-slab offices being built. Area would become known as Salt District).
Manchester St / St Asaph St / Tuam St: Both sides Manchester St, demolition-sites mess. Many demolition-sites by Poplar St, High St, Tuam St, Lichfield St, Madras St. Slow CCDU's green E Frame / Rauora Park. Still part-demolished & abandoned bldgs on High St, near Alice in Videoland.
Opp EPIC Innovation, Odeon Theatre roof, gone from Manchester St roadside. The unclaimed roof lay there, an eyesore, for years. Part-demolished Odeon Theatre, still an eyesore, theatre seats & part-demolished auditorium, still exposed to the elements. (Sept 2018. Odeon Theatre facade, still propped by stacked shipping-containers blocking Tuam St traffic. Ditto Sept 2019).
Tuam St: Multi-storey Council ghost, asbestos-ridden, demolished 2014 for the Bus Interchange. Post-quake, temporary bus exchange worked for a couple of years further W along Tuam St, before making way for NZ National Govt's / CERA's Blueprint Justice Precinct.
Manchester St: E Frame, blocks between Lichfield St & Worcester St, several demolition-sites grassed for E Frame / Rauora Park. Majestic Theatre; Bedford Row ghost; Shooters; neighbouring ghosts; all gone. That area of Manchester St, tidied at last, enabling Rauora Park in the E Frame. (Sept 2018. Trekked grassy Rauora Park, wind funnel, until planted trees formed shelter against southerlies).
Manchester St / Worcester St: Trinity Church / Octagon Restaurant ghost, an eyesore. Kitsch photo-art of trashed Trinity Church, covered N & S ruined facades. (Sept 2018. FOR LEASE real-estate board in front of Trinity Church. 2023. Poor-funding, Trinity Church, still not completely repaired).
June 2015. Shands Emporium would be relocated next to Trinity Church. Across the road, post-quake rebuild, Westende House would be demolished, July 2015. CCDU wanted to widen Manchester St there to build a bus-stop. (Sept 2018. 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 & 30 km/h speed limit ensured Manchester St congestion. Sept 2019. Bus-lanes were dangerous. At one intersection, traffic had to wait for a traffic-light enabling busses to turn left, cutting across waiting traffic. Accident waiting to happen!)
Cathedral Sq: Christ Church Cathedral ghost, eyesore, 4 years so far. Cathedral still surrounded by boards & fencing. Arctic promo boards in front of W facade showed various Arctic scenes & research by various countries. Maori plant whare still stood by fence-closed entrance to Cathedral W facade. Asian tourists happy-snapped Cathedral ruins. (Sept 2018. No change to Christ Church Cathedral, nor cordon- fence & whare, which would soon be removed. Dr Megan Woods, Labour MP, Regenerate Christchurch, would ensure that Christ Church Cathedral would be reinstated. 2019-20. No reinstatement. 2021. Reinstatement would begin. 2024. Reinstatement cost problems. Change of plan needed to reduce reinstatement costs!)
The Press published aerial pics of E side of Christ Church Cathedral rather than ruined W facade, tried bamboozling public there was little damage to Christ Church Cathedral. If true, why board up & fence-cordon Christ Church Cathedral, stopping public access? (Sept 2018. Christ Church Cathedral still a mess. The most expensive pigeon loft in the world. Ditto 2020).
Cathedral Sq: Camelot Hotel ghost awaited 2015 demolition for Central Library / Turanga rebuild, which would open October 2018. Novotel open. Cathedral Junction open, trams running. Heritage Hotel open. Millennium Hotel / Distinction Hotel closed. (Distinction Hotel would open, Mar 2018. During Covid-19 pandemic, 2020-21, Distinction Hotel would be a quarantine hotel).
Cathedral Sq: Government Life ghost being demolished, filled with asbestos pollution! Never mind passersby. Gloucester St ghosts by Arcades ghost & Government Life ghost, also being demolished.
Gloucester St: Central Library ghost, half-demolished for CCDU's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae. Gloucester St Bridge, still closed for repairs. CERA wanted to spend millions of dollars erecting the Convention Centre on swampland!. (Sept 2018. Convention Centre's massive steel framework erected next to heritage bldg, Isaac House, Colombo St / Armagh St. Monstrous juxtaposition. 2018-21. Convention Centre / Te Pae, ongoing construction).
Colombo St / Hereford St: BNZ asbestos ghost, only part-demolished, by closed Millennium Hotel / Distinction Hotel next door. Opp cnr, on ANZ demolition site, an office block rebuild progressed. (Sept 2018. BNZ demolished at last. New 5 storey Spark being constructed, massive steel frame, similar to new Convention Centre / Te Pae steel frame, diag opp in Cathedral Sq. Hereford St reduced to one-lane traffic, due to orange-plastic-road-cone cordon for construction vehicle access).
Colombo St / Cashel Mall: BNZ Centre construction site by The Crossing: Pagoda Court ghost on The Crossing cnr. (Sept 2018. Still abandoned. Sept 2019. Demolished. Multi-storey being erected for Kathmandu). Opp, Ballantynes humming. To enable BNZ Centre, Restart Cashel Mall, container-shops, opp Ballantynes, moved closer to Remembrance Arch by Oxford Tce. (Sept 2018. Restart Cashel Mall, container-shops gone, replaced by Riverside Market shops, 2019).
Oxford Tce: Mad Cow demolished for relocated container-shops. Remembrance Arch boarded for repairs. Remembrance Arch lions gone for repairs. Saturday Flea-market stalls & takeaway food-carts lined Cashel Mall. Pre-quakes, stalls & carts were at the Arts Centre, Worcester Blvd. (Sept 2018. Remembrance Arch repairs completed).
Oxford Tce: The Terrace rebuild stalled, steel skeleton incomplete, unpainted steel-joint-panels on painted-girders already rusting! 2015. The Terrace would resume rebuilding. (Sept 2018. The Terrace completed, lanes between bldgs, cafes, bars functioning).
Gloucester St / Durham St Nth: Provincial Council ghost, still closed for repairs. Opp, Amuri Courts demolition-site, crane still on-site while Awly Building, office block rebuild progressed. Opp cnr, Cambridge Tce, Deloitte 5 storey office rebuild almost completed: wavy- glass walls, green-glass panels. (Sept 2018. Provincial Council ghost, still closed for repairs. Awly Building across the road completed. Sept 2019. Ditto.)
Worcester Blvd: Art Gallery, closed, fence-cordoned for repairs. Arts Center, still closed, fence-cordoned for repairs. (Sept 2018. Art Gallery repairs completed, couple of years back, Art Gallery reopened. Arts Centre repairs, on-going still. Great Hall open, but Observatory bldg, still collapsed, awaiting rebuild).
Rolleston Ave: Canterbury Museum humming: New display, old Arctic, portable plyboard huts; another display, modern Arctic modular constructions, some portable, as Arctic ice / snow moves. Watched a movie: Sir Edmund Hillary's 1950s expedition to the South Pole, his Sno Cats falling into crevasses en route. Arctic Sno Cat & tractor on display.
Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre completed.
Durham St Nth / Chester St West: NZ Radio ghost & Spicers ghost, demolished for a law office rebuild in progress, Tavendale and Partners.
Durham St Nth / Kilmore St: Crowne Plaza Hotel demolition-site: Pallet Pavilion gone. Relocatable wooden Arches still stood. Gap Filler wooden office still on-site. Small digger landscaped site: new soil by replanted grass. 2024. Woooden Arches still on-site.
Kilmore St: Town Hall ghost, still boarded, no repairs yet. Road repaired, new tarseal before Forte Health glassy rebuild. (Sept 2018. Town Hall, still being repaired. Feb 2019. Repaired Town Hall reopened. 2021. Our family would attend Leah's UC graduation there. Leah completed a post-grad literacy diploma while living / teaching in S Canterbury).
Council's Black Map, Victorian Map, Christchurch rivers, swamps, showed Forte Heath built atop an underground stream flowing to Avon River. CBD bare-ground, after CBD demolitions, made it easy to see where underground streams ran, where damage was done during quakes. Example: Kilmore St, Salisbury St, Peterborough St had an underground stream: roads blitzed by quakes. Town Hall ghost stood on Kilmore St beside Avon River. Multi-storey PGC, Cambridge Tce, collapsed in 22 February quake, built on an old, silty levee close to Avon River. Post-quake engineers & architects repeated similar swamp-build stupidity as former CBD swamp-builders. Bullseye for the next big quake, as Christchurch CBD was built on Christchurch Fault, which killed during 22 February quake!
Peterborough St / Manchester St crossing: Road repairs progressed. CERA's regrassing, diag opp St Lukes demolition-site, overgrown, like 9 months ago when I'd last trekked by. Shabby vegetation insulted families of those who'd died in nearby PGC multi-storey collapse, during 22 February quake. (2021. PGC demo-site: small, grassy park backed by new bldgs, fronted by restored Edmonds Band Rotunda).
Barbadoes St Cemetery by Avon River: Many gravestones still toppled. In the CBD all along slumped Avon River banks, the banks were restored with black material laid on river mud & pinned with steel pins. In places riverbank repairs narrowed the river, constrictting & speeding up water-flow. (2022. Gravestones still toppled).
Fitzgerald Ave, by rebuilt northbound bridge, overlooking Oxford Tce: While I viewed residential red-zone, demolition-sites, across Avon River, where Jake once flatted in Avon Loop, Luke pulled up in his van. Pleasant coincidence. (Sept 2019. All residential red-zone houses demolished in Avon Loop. Oxford Tce being repaired, riverside boardwalk being constructed).
Reckoning: 18.11.14. TV 1 news & The Press reported CERA boss Sutton's demise: One of his female staff complained 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 13 June quake, Sutton oversaw formation of NZ National govt red-zones & green-zones in quaked areas: demolitions of 1 000s of houses in residential red-zones & demolitions of 100s of houses & commercial bldgs in Christchurch's CBD red-zone.
Sutton oversaw SCIRT infrastructure road-repairs, still incompleted, an irritant to road-users, due to orange-plastic-road-cone detours & poorly repaired roads.
Sutton oversaw NZ National govt's Blueprint for Christchurch's CBD. So far, CBD was dusty demolition-sites, abandoned bldgs, 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 built yet. As for CCDU's Blueprint Frames, many bldgs were demolished in E Frame for Rauora Park & as an afterthought, new apartments planned. S Frame had surviving businesses, like car dealerships, screwed around by Sutton's CERA until January 2015, when Sutton left. CERA then decided not to purchase most of those viable S Frame businesses, backtracking S Frame, just wanting some green-lanes between bldgs.
Sutton's CERA planted grass in demolished red-zones & in demolished CBD, E Frame. Planted & mown grass didn't allow natural plant- succession in red-zones, encouraging local fauna back to red-zones. So far, only rebuild CERA did: fiddle with Blueprint CBD, Avon River banks, revamping CBD riverbank paths & gardens.
Sutton's legacy: CERA demolitions, SCIRT, Blueprint. Sutton's CERA was formed post 22 February 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 be offloaded to PM's Dept & Cabinet. Anyone wanting CERA historical info, like zonings, demolitions, media releases... must apply to PM's Dept & Cabinet, or other govt agencies, or CERA Document Archives suggested on CERA's Disestablishment website.
Friday 19.12.14. While Leah had a Xmas function at London St, I trekked gritty CBD again, rebuilding progressing at Poplar St, where Jake flatted pre-quakes. Odeon Theatre, still part-demolished, an eyesore. TV news featured a Johnny-Come-Lately touting his forthcoming book of trashed bldgs & had shown him sneaking into steel-mesh-fence-cordoned, Odeon Theatre demolition-site, to take pics. I'd taken many pics of post-quake Odeon Theatre. Latest news: photographers sneaking into trashed bldgs, like Christ Church Cathedral & taking pics. An indictment of CERA's slow demolitions & slow recovery.
Besides graffiti on ruined walls, so-called art was also found on trashed walls, or walls of revamped bldgs, like a ballerina painted on the back wall of revamped Isaac Theatre Royal. Latest art: colourful, fibreglass giraffes all over the CBD.
Manchester St / Lichfield St: Majestic Theatre demolition-site, a Council carpark.
Manchester St / High St: Workmen revamped the tram line.
High St: Lunch hour, amongst ruins, Brick Farm, gritty gastro-pub, full of boozy men, no women.
Stranges Ln between Lichfield St & High St: 3 busy, new gastro-pubs in a new-build, a pre-quakes, brick bldg across the lane. Stranges Ln spooked me, I didn't trust the old, brick bldg.
Cashel St / High St crossing: Three diggers parked atop a massive, concrete rubble-pile, ready for a rebuild.
Cathedral Sq: Christ Church Cathedral ghost, still derelict. Wizard back, jabbering to tourists, apprentice Wizard in tow. A man dressed in white leggings, white shirt, black waistcoat & tricorn hat chatted to a hobo. Men played giant chess nearby. Council Library & Government Life ghosts, demolished at last, for NZ National govt's Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae.
Victoria Sq: Victoria Square apartments, demolished, also for Blueprint Convention Centre / Te Pae. Repaired Colombo St Bridge looked good beside Christchurch 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, ghosts. Some private-sector rebuilds done. No Blueprint anchor projects started. Just tinkering with Avon River banks.
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 quicker rebuild of housing in the CBD, particularly CCDU's E 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 started in the E Frame. Sept 2018. Fletcher had begun expensive, concrete tilt-slab apartments, Lichfield St / Madras St. Sept 2019. Latimer Terraces, Bedford Terraces, Bedford Apartments built. Liverpool Terraces, work in progress. 2022. Lining Manchester St, concrete tilt-slab apartments built].
The boost to residential activity will encourage further commercial growth and investment as people move into the central city.
Latter, obvious, but it took CERA nearly 4 years post 22 February quake to admit it. CERA's original Blueprint wanted to use E & S 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 relocated elsewhere, while CERA dithered.
Isaacs quit, becoming CEO of Stonewood Homes, soon going 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 residential red-zone we passed were demolished. Residential red-zone: scruffy, overgrown vegetation. Pages Rd Bridge : still broken. New Burger King: built on a demolition-site, Aldwins Rd / Linwood Ave. Luke said, "Burger King went up pretty quickly, 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: inferior asphalt, repeatedly laid, patch-on-patch by contractors. Asphalt trucks roamed Christchurch, but tarseal soon cracked, needing repairs, again & again. SCIRT contractors made a fortune doing crap work, digging up roads, over & over again.
New mayor Dalziel recently opined it would take another 30 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).
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