Whanganui’s City College’s 46-year-old tower block could be demolished

The tower was built in 1979 when the school was Wanganui Boys' College. Photo / Mike Tweed

One of Whanganui’s tallest buildings could be demolished.

Whanganui City College’s five-storey tower, built in 1979 and owned by the Ministry of Education, was deemed earthquake-prone in 2023.

In a statement, the ministry’s chief executive for school property, Jerome Sheppard, said four options were under detailed investigation “to align the building area to the school roll, while ensuring the school has the right type of spaces to deliver the curriculum”.

The options are to discontinue use of the tower and remediate Block F; demolish the tower, divest Block F and reconfigure existing spaces; demolish the tower, remediate Block F and reconfigure existing spaces; or demolish the tower, divest Block F, reconfigure existing spaces and provide new offsite teaching spaces.

Block F is the tech block on the other side of St Hill St from the main campus.

“We considered an option to strengthen the tower block and divest block F but didn’t take this forward for more detailed investigation due to the amount of surplus space at the school,” Sheppard said.

“The tower block is still in use and is suitable for continued occupation.

“Options under investigation will consider relocation of core functions, such as specialist teaching areas, to other areas of the school site.”

Earlier this month, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk announced a proposal to scrap New Building Standard (NBS) ratings.

Currently, a property that is less than 34% of the NBS is earthquake-prone and must be strengthened or demolished within a certain timeframe.

The college’s tower has a 25% rating and was added to the Earthquake Prone Building register in 2023.

Sheppard said the proposed NBS ratings narrowed the focus of earthquake-prone building requirements to structures in high and medium seismic zones, and those exceeding three storeys.

“Whanganui is in a medium seismic zone, and the tower block is a five-storey structure, so these changes would not affect this work,” he said.

City College principal Eugene van Heerden said the school had been conversing with the ministry.

“It’s a wait-and-see,” he said.

“[Demolition] would definitely change the landscape but, in the event of a big earthquake, it’s better to have our students safe.”

According to educationcounts.govt.nz, City College’s roll in 2024 was 293, down from 318 in 2020.

The school’s website said when it changed from Wanganui Boys’ College to Wanganui City College in 1994, there was an intake of 800 students.

The ministry said its engineering advisory group had confirmed the tower block could still be used while plans were developed.

Its low seismic rating was due to “secondary aspects” such as low-level external cladding panels.

“The main structure and foundations were found to rate above 67% NBS,” it said.

“Mitigation measures are in place to limit access around the low-level panels, and both the assessment findings and mitigation actions were communicated to the principal and the school board.”

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.