Whanganui's Thain's building demolition complete after engineers give go-ahead

Crews have left the site of the Thain's Building with demolition finally complete. Photo / Bevan Conley

Almost four month after fire ripped through the heritage Thain's Building in central Whanganui, its demolition is complete.

A pile of bricks is all that remains as demolition workers successfully remove the last of the Thain's Building on Monday.

Demolition began in early August after the building was ravaged by fire on July 20, resulting in extensive damage to the floors and roof.

Demolition workers have been waiting since the beginning of September for the go-ahead from engineers who needed to determine the best way to remove the last remaining wall without compromising neighboring buildings.

Central Demolition managing director Ian Butcher said they needed confirmation that it was safe to demolish due to the proximity to the neighbouring building that houses the Thai Villa restaurant.

"We know the Thai Villa had had a fire in it at some stage which you could see from the roof and had some repair work done so we had to be very careful how we did the separation," he said.

Central Demolition Services just have to tidy up the remaining bricks that lie as rubble of the Thain's Building and then their job is complete. Photo / Bevan Conley.

He said the process they followed included cutting the bond beam at the top intersection that held the wall together and then lifting it down.

The brick wall then came apart due to being very fragile and being held together by the beam.

"We've got it all down so now it's just a matter of cleaning up and taking out the balance of the fittings around the edges and levelling up the sides."

Butcher said it was a real shame to see such an old building come down but the cost was too high to reinstate it.

Fire destroyed the building on July 20. Photo / Lewis Gardner

The future of the space is undetermined but Butcher said they were now just making sure it was left in a suitable state for the next stage of development.

The demolition crew were due to leave the site on Wednesday.

The site's owners have been contacted for comment.