RESTORATION PROCEEDS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 464, 23 February 1933, Page 2

RESTORATION PROCEEDS

QUAKE AFTERMATH VISITORS' WRONG IMPRESSION OF REBIJILDING WORK " AT GISBORNE. . PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES. Visitors to Gisborne on a number of oCcasions have noted the evidences of building activity in the brick area of the tdwhj ahd i'n isome instances have eXpressed gurprise that so much work should have been necessitated by the earthquake daihage of last year. Those to' whom inquiries have' been addressed 'on the subject generally have been able to make the true position clear, but doubtless many tour- . ists have left the town with an exaggerated idea of the extent of dama:ge done to the business portion of Gisborne. While many thousands of pounds have ' been expended i'n repairing actual damag-e done by the earthquakes of 1931 and 1932, it is a fact that at least half the outlay undertaken by ownens. of building property has been precautionary.i Discussing this matter, the building inspector, Mr. L. Patterson, sta.ted that many of the jobs undertaken in the town since February, 1931) were purely precautionary, while in the majority of cases the outlay undertaken by owners of buildings included isubstantial amount? in excess of those required to restore individual ' buildings to their ' brigmal f orm. In every case where damage had been dorie by the earthquakes, ^omethirig more than the mere rehabilitation of structures' was undertaken, ' with the obje'ct"' of ensuring that Similar and more extensive damage should not be suirered in the event of a recurfence of earth trem'oris* Coricrete[ and Steel. A s'triking instance of this precautionary p'olicy was afforded by the extensive worlc done on the Majestic Theatre. There the wall at the rear of the stage swayed during the earthquakes of September 16 last to such an extent as to allow the ends of the roof principals to slip down inside the wall, which, being prevented from returning to its normal position, . cracked eonsiderably. To have demolish'ed and replaced the wall, with the added work of tying in the roof principals "to prevent a recurrence of the actual damage doneby the earthquakes, would have been a comparatively simple matter; but in order to make assurance doubly sure, the management of Gisborne Theatre, Limited, embarked on an 'e'xpenditure considerably gfeater 'than would 'have been required to replace the wall as stood b'efore the earth-, quake. ' A grid system of concrete pillars and b'ands was incoroprated in the rebuilding of the wall, and the rear portion of the theatre was strengthened to an extent which should enable it' to resist the most severe shake experi-, enced in the future. In undertaking this' work; 'the management was following a policy dictated by good business ideas, and also meeting every possible demand which might have been made under the revised building by-laws. ■Similar measures have been taken in a number of ^ases, where'plain brick ] buildings have been damaged and are in process of ' restoration.' The concrete gridding system is in some iri'stances eomblned with stfuctui'al steel work, and in all instances there is substantial reinforcement of the concrete pillars and bands.

In most of the brick buildings damaged by the earthquakes, it "ha.s been found feasible to introduce the reinforcement without entirely demolishing sound walls, and in this wdy the cost of rehabilitation and precautionary S'trengthening ' has been limited as far as possible. There is another form of post-earth-quake activity which has not yet ended, this' beirig the removal of heavy ■overburdens on building frontages throughout the town. This work has been done, effecting the removal of parapets and pediments which tended to increase the posisibility of darii--age in the event of a recurrenee of earthquakes. Dozens of structures in the business area in the last 18 months have been temporarily in the hands of the builders for this class of work. Many prudent owners of building property have been prompted tof undertake work of this nature as a result of examinations indicating' the points of possible weakness in their own properties. From a conJsideration of these circumstances, it will be reali'sed that while Gisborne suffered h'eavily through the earthquakes and some businesses were extremely hard-hit, the evidences of building work are not to be taken as a T reliable guide to the amount of damage done. If the outlay dri'fKe various 'jobs'be examined in detail, it would be found that only half or l'ess was attributable to actual repair work.