It is nearly two years now since the earthquake destroyed so many buildings in the Christchurch city centre and killed 183 people. In those two years, nearly 1,000 city buildings have been demolished. Only another 48 buildings are waiting to be demolished.
Some buildings which were not badly damaged will re-open soon. Some new buildings are starting to appear on the outskirts of the central city. Construction of the cardboard cathedral has started and is watched with great interest by locals. Some roads are now open in the CBD.
Listen to April 16th 2012 to hear about the cardboard cathedral.
The government says that now demolition is nearly finished, it is time to start the re-build. Plans for some new buildings are ready. The rest of this year we should see progress in rebuilding the city. It will however, take many years before the city is completely finished.
Click on the earthquake tag to hear more about Christchurch earthquakes.
Vocabulary
• demolish (v), demolition (n) – destroy buildings using machinery
• outskirts – areas outside the centre of the city but quite near
• construction – building, making a building
• CBD – central business district
Thank you for the true story about Christchurch starting to ré-build.