Demolition work on the former Hawke's Bay Powerboard building, soon to be the home of Hawke's Bay Today in Hastings, is likely to be completed in February.
Wallace Developments is heading the project to transform the current four-floor complex into a two-storey building on the corner of Heretaunga St and Warren St. It has assigned Demolition 1 to dismantle and remove the building's interior and the company began work earlier this month.
Project manager Steve Birkhead said Demolition 1 would continue working on gutting the interior of the building through the holiday period.
"We've got a demolition consent and we are just working through a building consent now, so we're ready to begin work when the demolition is done," Mr Birkhead said.
A special machine will be used to grind and pulverise the concrete and brick work of the top two floors of the building. The signature mirror windows were being removed before the demolition work began on each floor.
The same machine would be used on projects Wallace Developments was working on in Napier, including the Cosmopolitan Club and the former Paxies building.
Demolition 1 manager Ivan Yukich said about 90 per cent of the material stripped out of the building was being recycled, including carpet, insulation bats and air-conditioning units.
He said the demolition work was being managed to make sure tenants MWH consultants could continue to operate from the building.
Hawke's Bay Today will move into the first floor of the building when the redevelopment is completed about May.