GREYMOUTH TOWN HALL TOWER DEMOLISHED

Grey River Argus, 6 September 1948, Page 4

GREYMOUTH TOWN HALL TOWER DEMOLISHED

Large Crowd Witnesses Work At twelve minutes past seven iast evening, the 60-foot tower of the Greymouth Town Hall, which had proved the most difficult task facing the contractors demolishing the •building, was brought to the ground while hundreds of spectators cheered the efforts of the workmen. Public interest in the demolition increased in intensity yesterday, and large crowds throughout the afternoon watched patiently for an event which removes Greymouth’s most prominent landmark. Most of them were to be disappointed, however, tor shots fired into the base of the two back pillars of the tower at 5.15 and 5.30 p.m. were merely intended to dislodge sufficient brick and mortar to enable the bulldozer being used on the job to cut through tre uprights with steel hawsers. Afttr these shots, the bulldozer was put into action, but the strength of the lower pillars was beyond the bulldozer’s capacity to dislodge. Four shots were fired at a time into each/ of the two pillars on the inside of the tower, and the eastern section was successfully pulled away by steel ropes half-an-hour after the last shot was fired. FINAL TOPPLE At 7.10 p.m. a further quantity of gelignite was touched off by Mr J. Lenihan, who has been in charge of the blasting operations. It loosened the difficult section of the western inside pillar, and as soon as it nad been fired, the bulldozer was pressed into action, because of the precarious position of the tower. No sooner had the bulldozer put on the pressure on the remaining inside pillar than the whole 140 ton structure collapsed inwardly, with omy a very small quantity of rubble falling on to the footpath. The whole job was neatly executed, and, only a small portion of one of the walls of the tower remains.

The preparations for the final attempt were extensive, and from an early hour yesterday afternoon, great crowds of sight-seers congregated in Mackay St. t'o which efforts of the workmen. Police and traffic officers cordoned off the area from near the Empire Hotel down to Tarapuhi Street corner, but before the shots were fired, the people were pressed back to Boundary Street. They followed the firing of the shots —and their failure to bring the tower down with derisive laughter, but this gave way to cheers as the final event took place in darkness. In spite of the late hour, there were still hundreds of sight-seers. Built in 1904, the tower is estimated to have weighed 140 tons. Since its erection, it has been-the most prominent landmark in the town, being visible over a ver" wide area on both sides of the river. With its disappearance, the work of the contractors in clearing the site will be considerably speeded up. NO DAMAGE * Although the quantity of explosives used during the firing of shots yesterday would not be more than a few pounds, it was much greater than was used last week when damage as done to plate glass windows in Mackay Street, opposite tne Town Hall site. However heavy packing, in which bags filled with sand played a prominent part, obviated any danger of flying stones or bricks, and a dull thud was experienced as the shots were fired. The fact that the tower stood in a precarious position for more than an hour after one pillar had been undermined showed what strength there was in the construction of.the pillars. Fortunately, however, none of the workmen engaged on the demolition was injured in any way.