Robyn Edie/Stuff
Invercargill Central Ltd director Scott O’Donnell, pictured here in the old Cambridge Arcade says strengthening earthquake prone buildings comes at a huge cost. The arcade was listed on the priority earthquake prone building register. It was demolished as part of the CBD redevelopment, but care was taken to keep historical facades.
The cost of strengthening earthquake prone buildings poses a significant challenge to small-town New Zealand, Invercargill Central Ltd director Scott O’Donnell says. This comes after the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) recently announced that all the priority earthquake prone buildings in New Zealand’s high seismic risk areas had been identified, and it was moving on to identifying the non-priority buildings that needed strengthening.