'Ugliest' City Building to come Down

After physiotherapy on my leg today I took a short walk around the city. The rain was coming down then the sun appeared again and it is was warm. I took a number of shots and thought the former Government Life building would be interesting as they are started to put up the scaffolding for the demolition. I well keep you up to date with the deconstruction of the building.

You can see the scaffolding going up in the top two shots. The demolition is expected to take about 29 weeks, about twice the time needed for similar-sized buildings, because of the asbestos that they have found in the building. What I have seen on other buildings with asbestos they wrap in all up in white plastic until it all has been removed.

The Government Life building, built in the 1960s, had in the past attracted criticism for looking out of place in Cathedral Square. It has been named the 'Ugliest' City Building and a lot of people are pleased to see it come down.

An entry in the Encyclopedia of New Zealand described it as Christchurch''s first example of a ''modernist glass box''.

The building was largely empty at the time of the February 2011 earthquake.
For more information on the former Government Life building.