Iconic city building deemed quake risk

The old Rotorua Post Office has been closed after engineers deemed it to be earthquake prone. Photo/Ben Fraser

Rotorua's iconic former Post Office building on Fenton St has been closed and its tenants have moved after engineers found it to be earthquake prone.

The closure is temporary so the structure can be strengthened but Rotorua District Council Economic and Regulatory Services group manager Mark Rawson couldn't say when he expected it to reopen.

The old Post Office building, part of the city's i-Site and Visitor Information Centre, is the only part that has been closed. It houses a cafe, souvenir shop and some offices.

The Rotorua District Council's decision followed a recent engineering report which revealed the building was earthquake prone under government regulations.

Mr Rawson said tenants were given between 10 days and two weeks to move out and the council had offered to help with re-location costs and had worked with some tenants to help find alternative premises.

"We won't have an indication of how long the building will need to remain unoccupied until a comprehensive engineering assessment of options can be undertaken and that is expected to take at least three months."

As another precaution, the large bells inside the clock tower, estimated to weigh two and a half tonnes, will also be removed, probably by crane.

Simply New Zealand co-owner Jonathan Milne said his souvenir shop had been at the site for about 25 years.

"We would like to reopen there, but have no idea when this could happen," Mr Milne said. "We are speaking to agents in Rotorua and are looking for new premises."

Mr Milne said he was told on March 11 and had closed his shop and moved all of his stock by last Thursday.

"We understand this will take quite some time to fix.

"Of course we were concerned for our staff, so as soon as we were informed we moved as fast as we could to close up."

Mr Milne said the news came as a total surprise.

"Staff were a little nervous, but we realised we had been there for about 25 years."

Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick said the building was part of the city's heritage and had an Historic Places Trust classification.

She said the council was taking precautionary action in the interests of public safety.

"While the old building has stood the test of time for more than a century and survived a number of earthquakes throughout its history we can't afford to ignore lessons from the Canterbury earthquakes."

Mr Rawson said the old Post Office building was the only Rotorua District Council-owned structure to be assessed as earthquake-prone.

The i-Site and Visitor Centre, inter-regional coach operations and local tourism operators passenger pick-up services will remain operational.