With the Civic Trust having abandoned its last-ditch attempt to halt demolition of the City to Sea Bridge, the countdown to the bulldozers’ arrival is on, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin.

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Bridge shuttered as protest group steps back

Wellington’s City to Sea Bridge was fenced off on Monday, with contractors on site and the bridge’s artworks reportedly being readied for removal, RNZ’s Krystal Gibbens reports. It’s one of the final steps before the council commences the demolition of the 35-year-old link between Civic Square and Whairepo Lagoon. The closure follows last week’s High Court decision upholding demolition, followed by confirmation from the Wellington Civic Trust that it will not appeal. The last legal obstacle removed, work will begin “gradually” over the coming weeks, said a council spokesperson. All four of the highest-polling mayoral candidates have called for a pause on demolition until after the local elections next month, The Post’s Tom Hunt reports​ (paywalled).

The case for letting it go

While protestors argue for saving a singular piece of Wellington’s urban artwork, The Spinoff’s Joel MacManus – himself a fan of the “beautiful and weird” bridge – says demolition is the right choice: the bridge is quake-prone, eye-wateringly expensive to fix, and tightly bound to adjacent weak points such as Capital E, the seawall and the basement loading zone. “The next generation will have emotional attachments to certain buildings, and they won’t be the same buildings as the previous generation,” Joel writes. “We all tell our own stories. So yes, we should celebrate the City to Sea Bridge for what it was, share our special memories, and then let it go and embrace whatever comes next.”

Footbridge next?

A second city-to-waterfront crossing is also on the chopping block, Tom Hunt reports in another piece for The Post (paywalled). Council papers for the Frank Kitts Park redevelopment and associated fale malae (a Pacific Islands-themed cultural centre) show the quake-prone carpark and the Jervois Quay footbridge would be demolished as part of the project. The footbridge – built in 1978 and originally set for removal when the City to Sea Bridge opened – won a reprieve in the 1990s after it continued to experience heavy use. If it goes, pedestrians bound for Frank Kitts Park will have to cross the six-lane arterial road using a new pedestrian-priority raised crossing that the council plans to install next year.

Library one step closer to reopening

In his Windbag column, Joel links the bridge debate to the saga of the nearby central library, arguing that choosing to repair the earthquake-prone building rather than rebuild it entirely made an already complex job even harder. Be that as it may, the building now officially known as Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui  (The Window to the Wider World) has just hit a major milestone: construction is complete and the building has been handed back to the council for fit-out ahead of a planned March 2026 reopening.

According to a council media release earlier this year, visitors to the new library can expect some familiar features with a refresh: the iconic nīkau palms will return, redesigned to connect visibly to the ground; more natural light via a new atrium stair and added windows; and integrated homes for Nōku te Ao Capital E and City Archives. “The interior design mimics a forest, starting at the ground level and rising to the canopy, offering changing perspectives and expansive views.”

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