The September earthquake ripped through Kaiapoi streets and left parts of the business district in ruins.
More than 1000 buildings in Kaiapoi and neighbouring Pines Beach and Kairaki were classified as seriously damaged. More than 80 per cent of the commercial area on the north side of Kaiapoi is expected to be demolished, including the Riverside Shopping Centre.
Up the road in the Pines Beach-Kairaki area, the reserve, which had a playground, basketball court, paddling pool and skate park, has been mostly dismantled because of quake damage. About 50 families have relocated, while the beach settlement’s only store will close at the end of the month. About 90 of the settlement’s 307 homes will have to be rebuilt and a shortfall between insurance and rebuilding costs is expected.
The old train station, built in 1904 and relocated to this site in 2002, had experienced liquefaction in the soil below. The building had globally rotated and separated from the slab adjacent to it, shifting more than 8 inches.