Demolition of Cargo Shed begins

The concrete extension at the northern end of the Cargo Shed on Dive Crescent is gone after it was demolished on Friday afternoon.

Tauranga City Council group communications advisor Meagan Holmes says the concrete extension at the southern end is due to be demolished on Monday, weather permitting.

The concrete extension was demolished on Friday afternoon.

She says the iron that is being used to clad the exposed ends of the Cargo Shed is recycled from the roof.

“Once the demolition is complete, the contractors will have some tidying up work to do which will take another week to complete.”

Tenants of the Cargo Shed were asked to vacate the property in March after the premises was identified as an earthquake risk by Tauranga City Council.

Both ends of the 1940s building were scheduled to be demolished, with the first section already gone.

Tauranga City Council property services manager Anthony Averill says the shed was identified as an earthquake prone building with a rating of less than 33 per cent of new building strength.

“The main part of the building, which dates from the 1940s, is wooden framed with concrete foundations. There are issues with both the bracing and the foundations in this part of the building.

“The concrete extensions, which were added to both ends of the Cargo Shed in the 1950s, have significant structural issues and are considered unsafe due to the concrete beams ‘spalling’ (large chunks of concrete breaking off).”

The steel reinforcing in the walls is also badly rusted says Anthony.

The shed was rated ‘E’ in the Earthquake Prone Buildings Assessment, the lowest possible rating, undertaken by the regulatory arm of council during the last 12 months.

A report outlining options on the future of the centre part of the building will go to council for consideration in the near future.

The Cargo Shed is owned by Tauranga City Council who leases it to Creative Tauranga to run as a craft market.

Creative Tauranga then sub-leases the space to several small businesses and community groups.

Denny Spee from Creative Tauranga says only one of their stall holders has had to leave the Cargo Shed.

“Denise Arnold has moved to Bethlehem, but I think she was planning to do that anyway. “The middle part is still operating and will be business as usual until a decision is made.”

Creative Tauranga took over The Cargo Shed in 2009, which remains open every Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 4pm.