By Jason Ingham, and Michael Griffith.
September 15, 2010. Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.
The report attached describes one heavily damaged historic building, where the owner called in a demolition crew immediately, and as the work was beginning, the city ordered it stopped pending a review process. This is only one example of hundreds that will need to be negotiated, regulated and financed.
The City of Christchurch is facing a number of difficult policy decisions regarding damaged buildings. One is whether to allow home onwners to repair or rebuild their homes in the many areas where there was significant liquefaction damage (the subject of a separate post). Another difficult policy issue comes as a result of the damage to URM historic buildings. What buildings will the city want to retain (even if damaged) and how will the city help the owners financially to make that happen? The real estate economy is weak in the central city and tenants have left for suburban locations. Many owners of historic or even just old buildings see the earthquake as an opportunity to demolish buildings and build new. Preservationists fear that they will loose critical historic buildings and the fabric of an urban downtown. At a town hall meeting with hundreds of citizens, the mayor outlined a process of review and consultation, and asked citizens to participate in setting priorities for saving some historic buildings and developing urban design guidelines for any new infill.
Read the Report: Severe damage to Manchester Courts (0.43 MB PDF)
