A 50-tonne excavator is 'munching” its way through Council's old administration building on Willow Street, as part of the mechanical demolition stage of the project.

The concrete will be transported by truck to a concrete recycle facility and reused, says a council spokesperson.

This stage of the demolition is expected to take at least four weeks, weather dependent. Although Friday: rain has not slowed the progress of the large mechanical claw.

Noise, traffic and pedestrian controls will remain in place to minimise the impact on traffic, pedestrians, businesses and services during this stage of the demolition.

Council's Customer Service Centre and the Tauranga Library remain open as normal.

City Transformation Committee Chair Larry Baldock thanks the community for their patience during the deconstruction and demolition.

'We are on a journey to become an internationally competitive city, and revitalising our city centre and our waterfront is a key component to this. The demolition of the old administration building is a short term disruption for long term gain,” says Larry.

The demolition can be viewed from a webcam feed on the council website.

Council is partnering with Little Big Events to activate the space once the building is demolished and the site has been cleared.

'Our Place” will be an exciting temporary addition to the city centre list of things to do until investment decisions are made on the future of the space and the site is developed.

Council resolved in September 2016, as part of a Long Term Plan amendment, to demolish the administration building as soon as practically possible, following the discovery of toxic mould in the building in November 2014.