Part of the Farmers building  in central Christchurch is being urgently demolished after additional damage was found during an engineering inspection.

The department store complex on the corner of Colombo and Gloucester streets had been scheduled for demolition after it was damaged in the February 2011 earthquake.

A Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority spokesman said engineers had found additional damage in part of the complex while stripping the building.

He said urgent demolition work was taking place today, with part of Gloucester St set to be closed from 5pm to 8pm for the work.

Booms were heard in the central district business as the building's concrete panels were pulled down this morning.

The work would be completed by the end of the week, the spokesman said, and demolition would then halt while the rest of the building was stripped out.

"High-reach work" on the tallest part of the building was likely to start in late October, he said.

The Farmers complex is part of land that has been earmarked for a convention centre in the Government's central-city blueprint.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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