Christchurch's New Regent Street was given the green light tonight at 6pm from council staff and Civil Engineer Endel Lust. Earlier today the Historic Street was still gated off to the public, property and business owners. Todd Flygenring from the New Regent Street Business Group spent much of the day arranging with both Engineers and Council staff to arrange a assessment on the condition of the buildings following Saturdays devastating 7.1 magnitude quake.

The entire street is due to start a large restoration project which is being partly funded up to 40% by Christchurch City Council. The properties may also be successful in receiving NZ Historic Places trust funding and 22 properties have applied to the NZHPT Heritage Incentive Fund for funding in the 2010-2011 funding round. Original estimates for the work were around $1.5m however due to the recession this project may come in under a million.

Part of the works planned in the project is 'Seismic Strengthening'. According to Endel Lust(Civil Engineer) from a report completed in 2003 whilst the buildings are not earthquake prone however some remedial work was recommended however we're extremely fortunate that the buildings did not receive any structural damage in the quake. The basic structure of these buildings differs from many of the more seriously damaged building in the city as they comprise of reinforced concrete and encased steel beams as structural frames in the North-South and East-West directions and infill cavity brick panels.

Some business owners are likely to resume trading on Tuesday with the rest opening on Wednesday. The street is located just outside the police cordon so its likely many Christchurch Residents will visit the picturesque street again over the next few days.

A big sigh of relief that this iconic piece of New Zealand history can be retained. And whilst Endel Lust when he completed his engineers reports back in 2003 at the request of the council probably never thought these building would ever be put to risk however Property Owners, Tenants and I'm sure Cantabrians are thankful these buildings have survived.

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