The late-Victorian era Toomath's building on Ghuznee Street in Wellington had been unoccupied for years ahead of being gutted by fire on Sunday afternoon. Photo: Supplied / Harry Meadows
The owner of a central Wellington store says a fire may have broken the stalemate that saw a nearby heritage protected building gradually swamped by tagging, temporary earthquake protection and vines.
The late-Victorian era Toomath's building on Ghuznee St had been unoccupied for years ahead of being gutted by fire on Sunday afternoon.
Felix Wenzel of neighbouring store Capital Fishing said it was a shame the owners and council had not been able to come to an agreement and had let the site deteriorate.
"The council's got to bend a little bit I think. It gets to a point where eventually it's just going to get pulled down anyway because it's so deteriorated. It's just frustrating that there was no decisions being made," Wenzel said.
The building had been subject to quake-prone building notices for over 20 years.
In a High Court decision in 2021 the council won the right to enter the building to do seismic strengthening - and recover the costs from the reluctant owners later.
Wenzel said a container installed to protect pedestrians from the ageing facade of the building was also a source of irritation for locals.
"The container is causing a really bad, almost raw (sewage) smell. It's getting pretty putrid. You get a day where there's not too much wind and it just wafts into the shop. It's really just become an area that people are trying to avoid," he said.
"It's all a result of nothing happening with that derelict building. It's bloody frustrating for everyone."
Wenzel said he had complained to the council but it did not seem to be a priority.
A witness, who worked nearby, said they saw about six young teenagers running out of the building shortly before it went up in flames.
A door down, Co-Owner of Bowen Galleries Jenny Neligan said the abandoned building had been a "nightmare" for police.
She said the building had become overgrown with ivy and was a common location for squatters.
"There have been squatters coming or going for years. It's worried me hugely that [the owners] neglected that building and they didn't restore it when they could have," she said.
When Neligan heard the building had caught fire it brought the frustrations of the last two decades to the surface.
"Why did they buy it then? I was angry that they couldn't see that it would be a good thing to do to have those buildings be a fully-functioning part of the city.
"It wasn't beyond repair in 2007. It would (have) taken a lot of work and lot of money but it could have happened. It was a totally lost opportunity to do something good to enhance this part of the city which we all know and love," she said.
Sarah Ahern ran her store Lush out of the Toomath's building until tenants were evicted in 2013.
She said that in the five years she rented the space she was never allowed to sign a long-term lease.
"Everyone knew that the building was going to need strengthening at some point. Because the building was heritage protected the owner needed to keep the frontage but obviously that was going to make it an awful lot more expensive. The chat at the time was that the owner might just wait for another earthquake so the frontage could no longer be saved."
Ahern said she had always expected the building would end up destroyed but she was still upset at the demise of a part of the city that had felt like her second home.
"It's just a bit sad in general isn't it? There are all these beautiful old buildings in Wellington that are just going to waste. People can't afford to do the strengthening [and] it just means that there are dead spots in Wellington. It's a shame," she said.
Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau said, in the long-term, the city council wanted to look at the way it managed heritage buildings.
Whanau said her priority was to rebuild and revitalise the city and she knew the public would like the heritage look to be retained where possible.
"There are a number of us on council who would like to look at the way we can manage heritage buildings. Whether we need to change legislation so we can work through difficult buildings with earthquake prone issues," she said.
Cordon remains in place, police seek witnesses
Ghuznee St will remain closed between Cuba and Marion streets for the foreseeable future, and bus routes are being diverted, the city council says.
A cordon remains in place following Sunday's fire, which was contained, with no injuries or fatalities reported.
But the building is in such disrepair, it is too unstable to enter.
An Urban Search and Rescue team has used a drone to see inside, and found significant structural damage.
Work is taking place to mitigate risks of debris with strong winds forecast, and there is currently no evidence of asbestos.
Police said they would like to speak to anyone who witnessed the fire and who had not already spoken with them.
They especially wanted to talk to four young people - three boys and one girl, aged about 10-15 - who were seen entering the building prior to the fire.
The four youths were last seen in Cuba Mall around 2.20pm on Sunday, police said.
They also wanted to speak with anyone who had knowledge of people accessing the building from the Wilsons carpark in the days prior to the fire, or who had seen anything suspicious in the area between 1.30pm and 2.30pm on Sunday.
Anyone with information was asked to contact police on 105 or online and quote file number 231015/6874.
