The front entrance of the old Napier police station, bogged and sealed to prevent any dusty escapes during the removal of asbestos and demolition. Photo / Doug Laing
The front entrance of the old Napier police station, bogged and sealed to prevent any dusty escapes during the removal of asbestos and demolition. Photo / Doug Laing
Demolition of the old Napier police station is stalled because of the presence of asbestos which was discovered in the building in the early stages of the knock-down more than two months ago.
The demolition started soon after the end of the Covid-19 alert level 4 lockdown with the removalof a cell block, garage and other facilities attached to or separate from the main three-storey station, which is more than 50 years old.
It stalled soon afterwards and Inspector Andy Sloan, of Eastern Police District Headquarters, Hastings, confirmed today that it had stalled after asbestos was found in the building.
Police have employed specialists to manage the extraction of the asbestos so that demolition can continue, he said.
It's the last stage of the replacement of major police facilities in Hastings, leading to the opening of a new Napier station two years ago, and a new station and district headquarters in Hastings last year.
Sloan said the delay in Napier is not impacting operational policing in Hawke's Bay, nor is it affecting the demolition of the old Hastings station which is set to start when other facilities under construction in the Railway Rd station's yard are completed.
