Historic Nelson building calls last orders
Trathen’s Building, Nelson, Thursday, 11pm.
Almost a century of history is about to crumble. The Trathen family stand watching as the building that has carried their name since 1922 is clawed at by machinery.
Tears are shed as the finality of it all sinks in.
It has been a long journey for the family, from the decision last year to tear the structure down to watching it disappear from Nelson’s main street this evening.
Trathen’s Properties director Ken Trathen says there is a sense of relief knowing the demolition process is over but that doesn’t come without an enormous amount of emotion.
Formerly home to Trathen’s department store, a leading Nelson retailer for seven decades, the upper levels of the building have been untenanted 20 years.
The ornate building with its bow windows has featured prominently in Nelson’s history.
As the building’s bones break under the pressure of demolition equipment, bystanders gather to watch the facade fall.
One man is Phil Tons, who bought a leather jacket at Trathen’s in 1988. He was 15, the jacket cost $975.
It’s a jacket that means a lot to Tons. He plans on taking it with him to the grave.
‘‘I’m meant to be buried in it. I’m 99 per cent sure that I’ve got it stowed away in the shed. It was my favourite jacket when I was a 15 year old boy working,’’ he says.
Built in the 1920s it has a National Building Standard rating of only six per cent, making it an extremely high earthquake risk.
The cost of making it quakesafe would be even more than starting from scratch.
The building is no stranger to shaky ground though, having survived the 7.8 Murchison quake in 1929 and the 7.1 Inangahua Junction quake in 1968.
An iconic part of Nelson’s history is being attacked and is seeing its final day but the empty hole left in the busy street won’t be unoccupied for long.
Out of the rubble will emerge a new Trathen’s building featuring two restaurant-cafes with outdoor dining on the upper level, extending over the footpath.
‘‘We’re very excited about that,’’ Trathen says.