Shirley Community Centre building to be demolished

The earthquake-damaged Shirley Community Centre building is to be demolished.

Christchurch City Council has received a CERA Section 38 Notice of Demolition for the closed community centre building in Shirley Road because it is considered to be dangerous. The Council has agreed to the proposed demolition but a date when this will occur is yet to be determined.

The building was seriously damaged in the 22 February 2011 earthquake and has deteriorated since then.

General Manager Community Services Michael Aitken says while the building is significant to the local community, it is unfortunately too badly damaged to retain.

“Engineers have carried out a number of assessments and explored repair and strengthening options. However, they have come to the conclusion that the building unfortunately can’t be repaired. With the building now considered dangerous, the safest option is for it to be demolished. This is certainly sad for the local community which has used the building in one form or another for almost 100 years.”

The building opened as a primary school in 1916 and, after it was replaced by a larger school across the road, the Council purchased the facility in 1977 to convert into a community centre. It has been closed since the February 2011 earthquake.

Mr Aitken says that a number of significant heritage items will be retrieved from the building’s fabric during the demolition.

The future of the community centre will be determined as part of the Council’s Facilities Rebuild Plan project. For more information about the project, visit www.ccc.govt.nz/facilitiesrebuild.