Christchurch's Lancaster Park is in its last throes of demolition.
Deemed unsafe after the earthquakes, the former sports stadium is all but a skeleton of its former glory.
- Inside Lancaster Park one last time
- Lancaster Park, as it was, is now history
- Seats fly off the stands at Lancaster Park
The last remaining frames of Lancaster Park have come crashing down. One the home of the Crusaders, it's has been left looking like a war zone, the earthquake-damaged land and unwanted stands turned into dust and rubble.
"It seems a bit crazy, a Welshman pulling down a Kiwi icon," project director Lee Butcher says. "As it starts to disappear it dawns on you that the end is coming."
There are just a few months to go before it all comes down, the demolition job costing $12 million.
The removal of the last two stands is the final step in the deconstruction of Lancaster Park - the biggest demolition project in New Zealand's history to date.
Half of the material is still to be removed. The concrete and steel worth hundred of thousands of dollars is to be recycled and used in Rangiora.
"It's going to be used for ground improvement there," Butcher says.
The only physical thing to be kept from Lancaster Park is the historical gates. The park is set to return to where it all began - back to grass-roots sports activities with a community feel.
"If you go deep into the history of Lancaster Park it was established for amateur sport - there was cycling, swimming so many different things held here over the decades," says Christchurch City Council Head of Parks Andrew Rutledge.
The park is now a shell of its former glory as it makes it last stand.
Newshub.
