Concrete cancer' building demolished

Demolition on the old red brick building in Masterton's Queen st - formerly a St Patrick's School building - has started.

The building, dating back to 1927, was deemed an earthquake risk alongside other buildings owned by Lands Trust Masterton, including the old Opera House, which has already been levelled, and the Elliott Building.

Last Wednesday, contractors Rigg Zschokke started removing roofing iron.

Lands Trust manager Gary Percy said there were no plans for using the land just now.

He said the trust would continue with plans to build a memorial wall at St Patrick's School, with an old school sign from the building, as well as some old steps.

The building was assessed last year and a decision to demolish it was made in December.

The former school building could not be insured as it was not classed as a reinforced masonry structure and was said to be suffering from "concrete cancer".

An engineers report found the block reached 10 per cent of the seismic performance standard for new buildings - well under the 33 per cent minimum.

Trust chairman Alan Sadler previously told the Times-Age that while they recognised the significant heritage of the buildings on the demolition list "if a moderate earthquake struck tomorrow these buildings could kill and injure people and damage surrounding property".