Demolition after fire ‘a headache’

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33813, 9 April 1975, Page 2

Demolition after fire ‘a headache’

<\cto Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND. April 8. Demolition of the fire-ravaged < jlobe Chambers building in Swanson Street. Auckland, could become a monumental headache.

The demolition order was issued by the Auckland City Council after the fire which gutted the ornate, 75-year-old, fivestorey building last night. While the cracked and firescarred walls of the upper storeys of the old building teetered on the verge of collapse today council officials, demolition experts, and the owners held hurried meetings to decide what, to do for the' best. The task of pulling down the old building safely and; quickly was described as a “bit of a pickle” and a “nasty one” by a demolition expert. Mr M. F. Collins. The west wall of "the building, which is sited at the corner of Swanson Street and' Mills Lane, was “ready to fall at the least disturbance,” he said. A large crack in it was an “alarming spectacle.” The first 15 feet from the top of! the wall would have to be dismantled brick by brick. Mr Collins, who is managing director of V. H. Farnsworth. the company awarded the demolition contract, said! scaffolding for the job; would be taken to the site! tomorrow. It would take a week to erect the scaffold, and a further week to make the: building safe. Meanwhile, the area, around the building, and near the intersection, would be closed to pedestrians and motor traffic because of the danger of falling debris, and, the possibility that vibration! •would bring down part of the building. Businesses nearby were

closed today because of the fire, and some, for example the Tai Tung Restaurant, will not be able to reopen The Auckland City Council building surveyor. Mr C. G.j Geldard, agreed that demoli-i tion would create problems. ■ Under present regulations.' the floors of buildings more: than two storeys high were required to stand furnace, heat for one hour and a half. l The building had not been up to that standard, but the' .owner had been making arrangements to improve the building. Structurally, the building! ihad been reasonably sound and typical of the older type, buildings generally found scattered around the fringes of the centre of the city. The building was owned by Mr J. Veitch, of Veitch, Bur-! ;rett, and Veitch. Ltd, who occupied the ground floor, and Dr L. F. Brown. It was built by the Liverpool and London and Globe Insurance Company, which is' now part of the Royal Insurance Group. The property was sold to I Mr Veitch and Dr Brown about three years ago. It was on the market again, and, according to Dr Brown, a ; buyer was going to purchase the building on the day of 'the fire. The top three floors were : unoccupied. A sandal maker’s shop occupied part of the ground floor, and there was a clothing shop in the basement. Discrimination. — A bill tn remove sex discrimination iin nursing would be in- ! troduced in Parliament this year, said the Minister of Social Welfare (Mr King) yesterday. — (P.A.j.