Webcam gives public eye on stadium demolition

A webcam will give Christchurch residents a front row view of one of the largest demolition projects in the country.

The webcam has been installed at Lancaster Park Stadium and will record every stage of the deconstruction process.

People can view the images from the webcam online so they can keep track of how the demolition is going. The images will refresh every 10 minutes.

The earthquake-damaged Lancaster Park Stadium is going to be deconstructed.

“We know there is a lot of public interest in the deconstruction of Lancaster Park Stadium so we were really keen to find a way to keep people up-to-date with the project,’’ says Lee Butcher, who is project managing the stadium’s deconstruction.

“The webcam provides people with a round-the-clock, front row view of the deconstruction work so they can track progress.’’

Lancaster Park Stadium was badly damaged in the earthquakes and last year Christchurch City Council and venue management company Vbase, which owns the stadium, made the decision to deconstruct it.

The soft-strip of the stadium is currently under way. The goal is to get the stadium reduced to a concrete and steel shell in preparation for the main demolition work, which is expected to take 12 to 14 months to complete.

“The next big milestone will be the removal of the roof, which is a big job in itself and likely to take about three months. We expect to get that work started in May,’’ Mr Butcher says.

The 45-metre Paul Kelly stand will be the first to have its roof removed, followed by the 40-metre high Deans stand.