The cost to reinstate the 96-year-old landmark and heritage building was deemed too prohibitive and uneconomical, and efforts to strengthen its structure failed to secure the building and make it safe for use.
The first Mitre Hotel to occupy the site was a wooden structure built in 1849 and burnt down in 1925. Replaced by another wooden building, it too was destroyed by fire, the following year.
Its replacement, the current Mitre Hotel, is made of brick and reinforced concrete – as required by the then licensing board.
The 2010/11 earthquakes were more than its old concrete could withstand, and it went the way of so many of Christchurch’s colonial buildings.
It is not known what the current owner of the site plans to do with the soon to be vacant lot.
By John Spurdle
Public Interest Journalism Fund
