Wellington's Reading Cinema carpark to come down next month

Wellington's Reading Cinema Car Park building will be gone by March. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The demolition of Wellington's Reading Cinema carpark building is to begin in two weeks.

The multi-level carpark has been cordoned off and in danger of collapse since last month's 7.8 magnitude Kaikoura earthquake.

It was also damaged in the 2013 Seddon earthquakes, and was being strengthened when the latest quake struck.

Wellington City Council site manager Phil Becker says the scaffolding surrounding the carpark is almost all down and the final touches will be completed today.

He says the next job is to build a type of cushion on the road to protect it while the building is demolished.

Once that is done, Becker says the demolition machine beng used to tear down 61 Molesworth St will be moved to the carpark, probably on December 28.

Becker says all going to plan, demolition will begin on the Reading Cinema carpark on January 4.

He says weather permitting and all going well, they hope to have the building down to ground level by the end of March.

Engineers and the demolition company will monitor progress and make adjustments as needed, which could also affect the timeframe.