Demolition date set for Napier’s civic building

Published: 18 July 2022

Last Updated: 22 July 2022

The end of an era has come with the imminent demolition of Napier City Council’s old Civic building. 

The demolition of the building will be undertaken by Ceres New Zealand, and is due to begin from 1 August 2022.

Napier City Council’s Acting Executive Director of Community Services, Darran Gillies, says Ceres New Zealand was engaged for the demolition because they fulfilled Council’s criteria of working in an environmentally sound and cost effective way.

“Ceres will use demolition techniques that ensure we maximise our ability to recycle old building materials such as timber and concrete.”

The demolition will be carried out by by the safe removal of asbestos to allow the interior strip-out of the building. Once the building interior has been removed, large demolition excavators will work from the south of the building to the north, demolishing the building’s structure from the top down. 

This method ensures that the new building will achieve a Green Star 5 rating from the New Zealand Green Building Council. A 5-star rating represents New Zealand excellence in a healthy and sustainable building.

“Our priority is ensuring that the Civic building is demolished in a way that ensures value for money for our ratepayers with the added benefits of being environmentally responsible,” says Darran.

“For our new library building to achieve a Green Star 5 rating, it must take into account the demolition of what previously stood there.”

The Civic building was constructed in 1967 and vacated in 2017, along with the library and adjoining tower, when the buildings were discovered to not meet earthquake safety regulations.

A new library and civic area is planned for the site, with development of a detailed design set to begin later this year.

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