CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL | COLOMBO AND ARMAGH ST CNR | 17L | 70 Metres | Refurbishment Completed

yes it really is time for action with the heap of rubble that is the cathedral. It is ridiculous that years on from the earthquake the focal point of the city is still as it was the day after the quake. It is going to get to the point (as stated above) where investment and opportunities look elsewhere because of the eye-sore that is the cathedral. The time for action is well overdue. Get rid of it or repair!:bash:

can the mayor/council/government not demand action on the cathedral tidy up? where exactly is it at now? what are we waiting for??? surely there comes a time when it must be declared environmentally a risk? what about health/rats/squattors/vandels etc You wouldnt be allowed to dump a pile of bricks in the middle of queen street in AUCKland so why is this situation allowed to exist...

As you are all probably thinking - this is going to be an awesome hotel when completed. With superb north-west views out over the city toward the alps with nothing obstructing the vista. So pleased those involved had the vision to make this happen instead of opting for the easy option of taking the cash and donating the building to the cheap spectacle of a crowd pleasing implosion...
I wanna book a nite there NOW! - on the top floor with bubbles!!!:banana:

what I am really impressed by is that this building had a lot of bad publicity at the time of the quakes with people being trapped, internal stairs collapsing etc and if I remember correctly was one of the first that I think was initially talked about for demolition. But a complete turnaround! And now a world class hotel (sort of):banana:

voyager8907 said:

Yeah, even in that recent doco on the quakes they did you hear someone refer to the building as unstable. So wrong, in fact this building survived with very little structural damage. The stairwell collapse was because of shoddy construction work. Very shoddy work, they actually did a report on it with a diagram. The builder must have had 0 brain cells. Can't wait for it to become a hotel!

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So how can that be? wouldn't the building as a whole have to have met a certain building code at the time and be signed off by the same inspector(s)?? How can a building be extremely well built but have "shoddy stairs" that totally collapsed??? I would have thought fire escape stairs would have been one of the most important and scrutinised part of any building with very clear code criteria...