Mona Vale Gatehouse bared
The scaffolding is being pulled away from Mona Vale Gatehouse, revealing the restored building underneath.
The Canterbury earthquakes severely damaged the heritage-listed historic building in 2011.
Dominion Constructors has almost finished restoring the exterior, with a couple of downpipes, a fence section and some minor repairs yet to do.
Site manager Steven Spence expected to finish the interior by the end of July.
The budget to repair the building, which is owned by Christchurch City Council, was $800,000.
Contractors strengthened the house to 67 per cent of New Building Standard.
‘‘It’s far better than the day it was built,’’ said Spence.
He said it was a miracle the occupant survived the February 2011 earthquake.
The tall, narrow building shook back and forth. Both brick-and-plaster chimneys fell, one crashing through the sunroom roof and floor.
‘‘Now, I’d quite happily live in it.’’ The restored building would look almost identical to the original, though the contractors replaced much of the exterior.
The main difference was copper spouting replacing the original, rusted system.
Spence said when he arrived the building was in a worse state than some Christchurch buildings which were demolished.
‘‘The only thing that saved this was its [heritage] listing.’’
Contractors repaired the roof and large sections of the exterior, including rebuilding most of the front section.
‘‘Basically everything you’re looking at, from the foundation to the apex, is new. Only the windows are original.’’
Contractors reinforced the structure, but were yet to replace all the interior walls and ceilings they removed.
The finished building would have new water, sewerage, stormwater, power and internet connections.