Old Town Hall to be covered after mould spores discovered

Scaffolding going up on the exterior of the Old Town Hall in Bank St which was damaged by fire. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Mould spores found in the Old Municipal Building which was fire-damaged has hastened the removal of community group tenants who will shift their property this weekend.

A blaze broke out in the 107-year-old building - also known as The Old Town Hall - on October 10 about 12.45pm, forcing the evacuation of community groups that use the property on Bank St in central Whangārei.

It was revealed this week the most likely cause of the fire was an electrical fault in a light fitting.

Firefighters were quick on the scene and able to isolate the blaze to one corner of the building. However, the landmark clock tower was severely damaged and had to be removed and taken into storage later the following day.

Specialist fire investigator Craig Bain was able to get into the building on Friday morning and identified the seat of the fire as starting in the false ceiling cavity in a top-floor room used by Literacy New Zealand.

The decision to get everything shifted out of the damaged building was a sudden one that caught Whangārei District Council and the community groups by surprise.

"We all had to scurry around quite fast, organising for people to have safe, legal access to the unsafe building over the weekend, and vehicles and helpers to move things, and organising storage," the council's general manager – community, Sandra Boardman said.

"The problem with the spores is that the building is very wet. With warm, wet conditions mildew spores can multiply and eat into the wood of the building and make it rot. We want to keep it as intact as we can so we have professionals going in next week to spray the spores and kill them. A cover is going over the roof and windows have been covered up, so it will start to dry out soon."

Scaffolding began to appear around the outside of the building on Thursday.

Boardman said the intention remained to repair the building, but there was a lot of demolition to do inside, then engineering plans, design, building consents, insurance claims and other work to be done before a final decision could be announced.

"The picture changes from day to day as we learn more, but we are all operating on the basis that we want it put right and open for use again in future."

In the meantime, community group representatives have looked at five other locations and have become clearer on the criteria a new centre of operations would need to meet.