June 2017

Foate Optometrist’s Victoria Street practice cordoned off before demolition
Moving out
Another Christchurch optical institution
badly hit by the February quake was Corneal
Lens Corporation (CLC). Its Armagh Street
premises, built in the 1980’s, had been
over-engineered to deal with the weight of
multiple 1000kg lathes.
“I believe that saved our lives,” says
director Graeme Curtis, describing how the
building rocked violently during the quake.
“We couldn’t get back into the building for
29 days and much of the machinery had to
be repaired. We got overseas labs to help us
fulfil our commitment to our clients.”
The aftershocks made the working
environment almost intolerable so a year
later, when the company had to leave so the
building could be repaired, Graeme and his
team decided to move to the suburbs (see
story p25).
“We needed to get out of the city. We
needed calm,” he says, noting CLC wasn’t
the only one. Businesses left the CBD in
droves, relocating out to the west of the city,
where the aftershocks were less powerful.
“The city went to the suburbs and
businesses adapted to that. It’s been good.
We get pop up shops and there are coffee
places and food bars. People like the suburbs,
it’s convenient. Christchurch has changed
dramatically.”
CBD devastation
Low vision champion John Veale also found
new life in the suburbs after the February
quake. Veale and Hulme optometrists in
Gloucester Street was founded in 1906 by
Australian George Sevicke-Jones, but on
22 February 2011 the Gloucester Street
building, which had housed the practice
since 1999, sustained extensive damaged
and was earmarked for demolition.
“We went through the September
earthquake okay, and I told the staff, ‘this is a
bunker, the aftershocks won’t affect us,” says
John. “But when the February quake hit, the
building shot up and came back down in a split
second and all the concrete beams buckled.”
Life goes on: rebuilding after the quakes …
The Canterbury Earthquake National Memorial remembering the 185 who died
John and his business partner John Hulme
registered with the Earthquake Recovery
Centre and were allocated an 8am to 2pm slot
with a security guard to rescue essential items.
“We couldn’t take big things, like chairs,
and we couldn’t get to the first floor because
the stairs had collapsed.” Luckily a friend of
John’s brought equipment to punch a hole
in the wall so they could load items from
upstairs into a container.
“About 1.30pm we had just left the building
when there was a massive aftershock, and
the whole place came down.”
The two Johns had paid business
interruption insurance for 25 years, but
because they had a small consulting room in
Shirley that was undamaged, the insurance
company said they weren’t ‘interrupted’, said
John Veale.
“We battled with them for three years.
Eventually we split the business. I opened
my room in Papanui and John still practices
from Shirley.”
Although it looks like progress is being
made, the central city is still a mess, he says.
John Veale at Merivale
… and more rebuilding
“There are cones and stop/go’s everywhere;
no parking; you can’t get anything done.
We’re still having aftershocks. We had the
fires, there’s been flooding – it’s like biblical
times.”
Visique Foate Optometrists’ co-owner
Jonathan Foate says it’s only been in the
last six months that things have begun to
settle. “Ed (Edward Foate) and I were having
lunch just down from our Victoria Street
store when the earthquake struck. Ed said,
‘it’s worse than the last time’ and we ran
outside, covered in dust. We watched the
cracks opening up in the building opposite.”
The Foates’ lost two of their four stores
that day and never regained access to
their Victoria Street store to reclaim any
equipment or hardware.
“There were special exemptions for
medical businesses, but CERA decided
optometry wasn’t medical. I’d even had our
request signed off by an ophthalmologist,”
says Jonathan.
A connection in the fire department meant
Ed could retrieve some hardcopy patient
records, but their losses were
high. Still, Jonathan says they
were lucky.
“We still had our Bishopdale
store, which was largely
undamaged, and Ferrymead,
which was repairable, so we
could continue trading. We
know of many smaller, onesite
independents that lost
everything. I feel grateful and
positive about the future.”
Looking ahead
As the sixth anniversary unfolded,
reaction in Christchurch was
mixed.
“We stood outside, paid our
respects,” says Trudy. “Some
people are still anxious. I’ve coped
better than some. I’ve rolled with
the punches because I’m a sceptic.”
Trudy says she now spends her
time making the best of things
and taking each day as it comes
adding that while the bush fires
and the Kaikoura quake were both
scary, they didn’t get her down.
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“Positive people were crushed, but I’m used to this bullshit now. Maybe
we’ll end up better at some point.”
Over at CLC’s new premises in Wigram it’s business as usual, with
the overriding feeling of ‘Keep Calm and Carry On,’ says Graeme. “I
think the fires reinforced our sense of vulnerability. But it was the
sixth anniversary today and I didn’t even think about it. Ultimately,
it’s good to move on.” ▀
June 2017
TBC
www.optometry.org.au/wa
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