WellUrban

Personal reflections on urbanism, urban life and sustainable urban design in Wellington, New Zealand.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Farewell 158


The demolition of 158 Cuba St started early this week, and it's all happening very quickly. Here's a couple of shots of the process (courtesy of a certain prolific commenter).

Demolition of 158 Cuba StI won't rehash the arguments that we've been over several times before, but to summarise: it's a shame to lose a characterful old building, but it was pretty close to falling down of its own accord and the replacement, while a couple of storeys taller than I'd prefer, looks pretty good.

Interestingly, there's an article on page 8 of today's Wellingtonian about David Roil (aka Mr Freak) and his thus-far fruitless search for an affordable Cuba St shop for his planned fashion, hairdressing and exhibition venture Freak!space. Given the developer's well-known quote about "cheap rents attract[ing] funky new businesses [that] give the street its reputation", perhaps Ms Krogh should offer the new ground floor tenancy to Mr Freak at below-market rates to ensure that even with a new building, Cuba St doesn't lose its soul".

1 Comments:

At 11:12 am, July 19, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Freak Tower ! i like it !

 

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