Future of Farmers Cuba St in Wellington remains unclear
People dressed in high-vis were seen boarding up Farmers Cuba St on Thursday.
One of Wellington's largest department store appears to be being prepared for a lengthy closure.
Farmers on Cuba St has been closed since the November earthquake, and on Thursday workers were removing stock from the building and papering up the windows.
The Farmers website says its Cuba St store will be closed until further notice. The company has not responded to requests for comment.
Bram Jansen was busking in Cuba Mall in late November. Behind him, a broken mannequin can be seen laying on the floor inside Farmers Cuba St.
In late November, Farmers chief financial officer Michael Power said the company was considering engineering assessments to ascertain the building's strength.
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No strengthening work had been completed after the building was closed for over a month following the 2013 Seddon earthquakes, which rattled Wellington, Power said.
"We will remain closed until we are satisfied that it is safe for our staff and customers to re-enter. We are not aware of any damage as a result of the recent earthquake activity."
The building, which is also home to Stevens homeware, is owned by one of Wellington's largest and most well-known property firms, Willis Bond & Co.
Willis Bond & Co bought the property in 2014, along with the property next door, which is home to stores such as Matterhorn and Rex Royale.
Those two sites, combined with the former Deka site on the corner of Cuba and Dixon streets, has a footprint of almost 10,000 square metres.
It was earmarked for a major redevelopment, which began last year.
Stage one was to create a new campus for Whitireia and WelTec polytechnics, and secure retailers on the ground floor.
It is unclear what the next stage would be and whether that would include the Farmers Cuba St site.
- Stuff
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