Butterfields building owner Mark Munro isn't expecting any opposition to his plans to knock down the building.
Wednesday, April 20th 2005, 8:24AM
by The Landlord
Given the amount of criticism of the state of the building by neighbouring building owners and Timaru district councillors, Mr Munro said he'd expect plenty of support for his plans.
He's frustrated that some of the criticism is coming through the media, rather than directly to him, and says, for example, that much of the damage to the veranda was caused by council contractors blocking off a downpipe while upgrading a footpath.
Mr Munro said an application for consent to demolish the building had been lodged for some time, and he hoped to carry out the work within months.
"My intention is to bowl the building. All I'll be doing is knocking it down and fencing it off. I'd consider car parking, but I think there would be too many issues parking on a bare piece of land, and regarding access issues from Stafford Street."
Mr Munro said he would then be looking for any potential development options for the site.
"One of the problems in that area is that the buildings in general along there aren't particularly attractive to retailers. There are a number of second-tier retailers there, but the good ones want to be centrally located in Stafford Street, so it won't be easy."
