The long-serving tenant of Ashburton's 90-year-old Balmoral Hall watched the final wall fall and "everybody's memories" reduced to rubble.
Dance teacher Charmaine Quaid ran her dance studio at the hall for 55 years until the Ashburton District Council decided the building's ongoing roof leaks, severe timber decay, and widespread asbestos rendered it unusable and too costly to maintain or relocate.
"It's demolition by neglect. Hopefully they have learnt to look ahead with their remaining buildings," Quaid said.
Contractors are now in the final stages of removing the foundations.
"It has been over 18 months since we were told what was going to happen," Quaid said.
"People have created memories there over the years, so I think there are a lot of people in Ashburton who are very sad to see it go.
"I actually parked up and watched the last wall of the studio being knocked down and thought there everybody's memories into a rubble. Done and dusted and now buried."
The council had allocated around $480,000 in 2022 for basic upgrades to bring the ageing building up to code, but the work was then deferred a year.
An updated estimate in 2023 put the costs at around $1.3m for significant repairs, and it became a contentious topic in the 2024-34 long-term plan.
The council's final decision following public consultation was "to retain the hall for two years or until it becomes unusable".
Hall users advised the council they were moving out at the end of December 2025 and no bookings were being received as it was deemed no longer suitable for community use.
A budget of $458,063 for the demolition was included in the 2026-27 Annual Plan.
The work started in August, beginning with asbestos removal.
Council business support group manager Helen Barnes said the project is not finished yet and "at this stage, the demolition is on time and on budget".
Barnes said once the demolition is completed, the site will not become part of the adjacent car park.
"This area will be grassed."
The car park was already extended following the demolition of the former Polytech buildings next door to the Balmoral Hall site.
It opened in May, later than planned due to delays dealing with asbestos, but was completed around $100,000 under the $856,000 budget.
It now carries a $3 all-day parking charge during business hours.
As for Quaid and the Dancework studio, it split in two after leaving the Balmoral Hall.
Jazz teacher Jessie Thompson moved to EA Networks Centre's new multipurpose studio space and Quaid relocated to the Hakatere Presbyterian Parish Hall.
"I told the children it's like me; it's old and comfy," Quaid said.
"It's very well kept.
They are still doing what they do just in a different place, "still with the love and the passion".
"We've all moved on and surviving."
Balmoral Hall background
The Hall was originally built in 1936 as the Assembly Hall for Ashburton Technical School on Cameron Street, which later merged in 1965 to form Ashburton College across town at Walnut Avenue.
The Ashburton Borough Council had a small farm on Walnut Avenue and completed a land swap with the Government for the former Technical School sites.
No longer needed by the new college, in the early 1970s the building is understood to have been renamed the Balmoral Hall by the Scottish Society when it moved from the Radiant Hall (demolished in 1996).
