DAMAGED BUILDINGS

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 270, 13 August 1942, Page 6

DAMAGED BUILDINGS

Measures For Safety Of Public DISCUSSION BY CITY COUNCIL No Wellington buildings in an unsatisfactory state as a result of earthquake damage are to be reinstated if, in the opinion of the city engineer, they, should be demolished. Decision to this effect was made by the city council last night. Cr. Macalister said the by-laws committee felt that the safety of the public should be the first consideration and should come before the interests of building-owners. Expressing agreement, Cr. Todd said it whs fortunate that the last two quakes had occurred at night, but the next one might come in the daytime and serious damage would be done unless strict precautions were taken. He suggested that the city engineer be empowered to examine all buildings showing signs of risk and that, if the city council did not have power to enforce action necessary for public safety, steps should be taken to obtain it from the Government. The mayor, Mr. Hislop, said the engineer had power to examine buildings and a list of 65 would come before the council that night. He understood that regulations which were being gazetted immediately would cover the other suggestion made by Cr. Todd. In reply to Cr. Nimmo, the mayor said that steel would be made available where necessary for strengthening as well as repairing buildings. Cr. Nimmo. suggested that a statement should be made advising the public what to do if an earthquake occurred in the daytime. “I am convinced,” he said, “that many lives were lost in Napier as a result of people rushing out into the street instead of staying where they were.” The mayor said he understood a statement, as suggested, was being made by the Police Department. Liter the council authorized the service of notices on owners of 65 buildings, requiring them to remove danger by securing or taking down the buildings. The mayor said that in a number of these cases the work was already in hand.

BUSY ARCHITECTS Cracked Parapets And Walls The general opinion in Wellington seems to be that the earthquake of Sunday, August 2, was much more destructive to property than that of Wednesday, June 24. Whichever shake did do most damage, it is certain that it has given a great deal of work to local architects, . “Apart from the work in hand, I have had ten more or less urgent jobs thrust on me through the earthquake,” declared a well-known architect yesterday, "and I know that others have been loaded up with work for the time being. Some of it is not big work, but here and there it involves quite a lot of exploratory investigation. On that account there are still owners who do not yet know the extent of their liability.” . The architect said that the jobs he had 'been called in for were not all confined to Wellington city. Some of them were in various towns in the Walrarapa, and one was in Picton. “People are not yet aware of the amount of damage which was caused by that last quake,” he said. “It is coming out only as the result of investigation. One of the buildings to suffer severely in Picton was a hotel.” Most of the jobs mentioned concerned fractured parapets and cracked walls, in places most awkwardly broken.