We stumbled across this video yesterday; it's a time-lapse sequence of the demolition of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, a distinctive central city landmark; check this out:
According to comments left on YouTube, images were taken by a webcam on the roof of the Christchurch Casino building. The video consists of photos from every 10 minutes between 6.30am and 7.30pm every day except Sunday, starting on the 16th January.
We were down in Christchurch at the beginning of March, and we drove past the Crowne Plaza where we had never stayed, but where we had dined on a number of occasions. At that stage the top floors had been gutted, which is reflected around the one minute mark on the video. The evental takedown of the building, which starts at around the 2:45 mark, is rapid; then again, demolition contractors in Christchurch have now had plenty of practise.
As Christchurch loses more and more of its central city buildings, it's great that this demolition has been recorded for posterity. Hopefully the land where the Crowne Plaza stood will be able to be rebuilt on, and a new international-quality hotel will emerge from the rubble.
Without doubt Christchurch is rebuilding; we see signs of that every time we go down there. And a vibrant, modern city will emerge from the carnage of February 2011; of that there is no doubt.
1 comment:
I expect that everyone involved in it's construction 20 odd years ago never thought they would see the building come down during their lifetimes.
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