Implosion of Radio Network House

The implosion of Radio Network House in 2012 was the first implosion used in New Zealand to demolish a building, and was a "test case" for the potential to use such a demolition method on similar buildings in Christchurch Central City that had been damaged in the 2011 earthquake.^[1] Like most other large buildings in central Christchurch, Radio Network House was damaged beyond repair in the 2011 earthquake, and the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) added it to the demolition list in August 2011. In July 2012, it was announced that the building was going to be imploded, involving a specialist company from the United States with considerable experience in this type of work.

The right to push the button for the implosion was put up for auction on Trade Me, and became that website's third most viewed auction.^[2] The winning bid of NZ$26,000 was made by a consortium of demolition contractors, who allowed the Child Cancer Foundation to nominate a six-year-old boy from Queenstown to trigger the event. The implosion, which was carefully monitored to assess the suitability of this demolition method for potential future applications, went without any problems and it is anticipated that this will have paved the way for many more implosions in New Zealand in general, and in Christchurch in particular. But as of 2020, only one further implosion has been carried out.