Retailers allowed another reprieve

Press, 10 March 1987, Page 5

Retailers allowed another reprieve

Retailers renting shop space in the Dominion Building have been given a temporary reprieve, yet again. The Dominion Building, on Colombo Street between Gloucester Street and the Square, is destined to be demolished and replaced by an office block. The owner of the building, the A.M.P. Society, originally informed the tenants that the date for vacating the premises was to be Christmas Eve last year. "Then the date was extended to February 28 and then, just before the end of February, they extended it for another two months,” said Mr Colin Milligan, whose son manages the family business, Woodwards Jewellers.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if towards the end of April they give us another month,” he said. The South Island property manager for A.M.P., Mr Peter Churchill, said there was nothing mysterious in the extension of the date. Although proposals for the new office block were released in May, 1986, Mr Churchill said final plans were still being prepared. A demolition permit has yet to be filed with the Christchurch City Council, but, he said, "There is no point in bringing the building down until we are ready.” Full details of the $l5 million, five-storey office block with ground floor retail shops should be released within two weeks.