Demolition


Back in 2022 I posted about this building in town - the Royal Hotel which sits along Mawhera Quay by the Grey River. It had been closed and boarded up but shortly after I took this photo, work started to remove the asbestos from inside in preparation for demolition. 



The asbestos and the building being earthquake prone are the reasons for it coming down. It is privately owned so I imagine it will cost the owners too much money to bring it up to code. 


Last Friday there was a post on the town Facebook page from the local council notifying everyone that on the following day (Saturday) the building was going to be demolished. So B and I drove into town to get some photos. 


The top half had been toppled down but the bottom half was still hanging in there.


We weren't the only spectators to go and have a nosey, looks like quite a few people turned up.





By the time we got there it was half done, apparently it's going to take a few days to get everything cleared up. Greymouth is an old town as it use to be a part of the gold and coal mining days of the 1800s but now it needs some modernizing so it will be interesting to see what will be put in it's place.


As of today this is what's left of it.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

Comments

Iris Flavia said…
Oh, how sad. But asbestos needs to go! Ingo is 8 years older than me and in his school was asbestos - the reason he had headaches all the time. It went down, too... Sad about this architecture, though!
11 December 2025 at 19:02
local alien said…
A pity it had to go. Lovely that you managed to get your photo though of the hotel a few years ago
11 December 2025 at 19:43
Fun60 said…
It is a shame to lose part of your heritage but the problems obviously outway the advantages in this instance.
11 December 2025 at 20:33
Jan K. alias Afanja said…
It's a shame the building couldn't be saved. Demolition is often cheaper and sometimes even better.
11 December 2025 at 23:10
Tom said…
...what a shame to see this lovely building torn down!
12 December 2025 at 07:11
Bill said…
A sad day for the town. Lots of history in that building but you got some great demolition photos of it going down.
12 December 2025 at 09:32
Marie Smith said…
Asbestos in old buildings is an issue for people here too.
12 December 2025 at 10:28
Gemel said…
How sad it's been demolished.
12 December 2025 at 11:56
Spare Parts and Pics said…
Asbestos seems to be everywhere. Too bad they couldn't save the building.
12 December 2025 at 15:48
doodles n daydreams said…
I remember attending a function or two here back in the day. I was sad to see it was being demolished, so many of the grand old buildings have gone, it's quite a changed town now when I come back.
12 December 2025 at 20:57
magiceye said…
Beautifully serialised!
13 December 2025 at 02:26
Sharon said…
it's a bit sad that they had to take down such a nice looking building but I understand the economics of it. I hope they put up something equally charming.
13 December 2025 at 05:31
Photo Cache said…
Sad when lovely buildings are torn down.

Worth a Thousand Words
13 December 2025 at 11:18
Tigger's Mum said…
What a shame to lose such a piece of style and old sophistication. Earthquakes are too serious a risk for old brick buildings.
14 December 2025 at 21:41
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