Demolishing A House

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30559, 30 September 1964, Page 1

Demolishing A House

A in a t e u r demo- ' lishers have had a free i hand for the last week ! at an old house at the corner of Manchester ‘ street and Cambridge i terrace. Elderly women with scarves round their heads to keep out mortar dust have been competing with men and schoolboys in a race for the best brieks and planks of jarrah, black pine, totara, and kauri. The race for the best pickings began when the new owner of the property. South Island Motors Ltd., put up a sign reading: “Timber, etc., free for the taking.” Since then, upwards of 40 cars, several five-ton trucks,

; swarms of boys on bicycles, [ ; and countless neighbours and' I others on foot have invaded I the building, nearly 100 years ' old. I Wreckers have carried out i [loads of timber, guttering, old] [nails, piping, lining, iron,' lead, copper, pictures, and furniture. Even an entire staircase has gone, as well as a back roof, a score of window frames, and whole walls. The demolition activity reached a peak last weekend, when the word went round that professionals were soon to move in with a bulldozer. The bulldozer would move in any day now, said the manager of South Island Motors, Ltd. (Mr J. Low) yesterday. “I hope the old ladies out

there have not swiped the flowering magnolia tree,” he said. “My boss —the chairman of directors, Mr Chamberlain —has earmarked that magnolia tree for his own home.” Anybody who wanted a flowering cherry tree in full bloom, he said, could have it. Mr Low said that the company would probably begin a new building on the site within 12 months. It expected to move into new two-storey premises for its spare parts, workshop, and car branches at the rear of its present Cambridge terrace garage on March 1. The old house sit* next door to the company's present garage would be for expansion.