Time runs out on carpark

By BERNARD ORSMAN

A pair of giant jaws are nibbling their way through the country's first municipal carpark building, Britomart, to make way for a new transport centre.

The three-storey building is being demolished using a pulveriser that smashes the concrete, followed by a set of shears for cutting through the steel reinforcing. Demolition man Peter Ward lovingly refers to the jaws on the end of a 65-tonne excavator as his "toy."

In two months, the Auckland landmark and old parking up spot for couples will be flattened and 15,500 tonnes of concrete and steel broken down to be recycled.

But before work could begin yesterday, Ward Demolition site manager Sonny Collenette roamed the site looking for used hypodermic syringes - a sign of the seedy life that overtook the dilapidated Britomart block.

It was a different picture on September 11, 1958, with the sun blazing and a band playing for the opening of the Britomart.

Entering the building, Mayor Keith Buttle's Daimler limousine cleared the space between decks by just 15cm and a following police car scraped its aerial on the ceiling.

On the first day of business, the 465-car building was virtually full by 10.30 am.

Charges were ninepence (about 7.5c) an hour with a penal rate of one shilling and sixpence (15c) an hour after four hours. When the carpark closed on June 17 it cost up to $17 a day to park.

The Britomart cost £287,000 and the council followed in 1962 with the Day St carpark serving Karangahape Rd, and a year later with the Victoria St carpark.

The tatty Britomart bus terminal is also being demolished. With the transfer of the railway station from the bottom of Queen St to Beach Rd in 1930, it was decided to develop the area as a bus station.

After many delays, it opened in September 1937. The Herald called it "modern and well-planned," but transport operators condemned the station.

The concrete annex behind the Chief Post Office, used as a sorting depot for nearly 60 years, was demolished in April.

A worker needed hospital treatment after an accident at the site, and for the $404,000 contract to demolish the carpark and bus terminal, the Auckland City Council has set up a new charter with Occupational Safety and Health.

Knocking down these buildings will clear the ground from the back of the Chief Post Office for three blocks to Britomart Place.

This 150m strip of reclaimed land will be excavated for an underground train station once the council finalises a financial package for the Britomart project.

Britomart Place will stay open.

The council received two setbacks last week when Infrastructure Auckland and Transfund deferred decisions on grants to the $261 million project.

Council representatives will meet both organisations this week to try to resolve any outstanding issues.

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