As the big lift started this morning, an entire crowd held its breath.
The historic Kaiapoi Railway Station was floating in mid-air. At 119 years old, it was about to begin a journey its builders could never have imagined.
"I'm excited, I can't wait. I just hope it all goes well," one onlooker said, watching workers on the controls of an enormous crane.
The plan was simple on the face of it — lift the building up and drop it at a new vantage point a few metres away, overlooking the tranquil waters of the Kaiapoi River in Canterbury.
But when you're moving a structure from last century, there's a lot of guesswork.
Locals woke up early to see how the 120-year-old Kaiapoi Railway Station would fare. (Source: 1News)
"We had sort of taken a punt of the weight of it," project manager Jared Hazeldine said.
"We did some weights on the timber, and the roof we estimated at 10 tonne with the concrete tiles and bits and pieces. Put it all together and we thought it would be around 38 to 40 tonne."
Recently repurposed as a café, the spot was once a humming railway station.
First built in 1904, it enjoyed the glory days of locomotion. But when the rail journeys stopped it fell victim to vandals, and Kaiapoi residents formed a trust to save it.
For Neville Atkinson, the former chairman of that Kaiapoi Railway Station Trust, the building was a 15-year passion project.
"It was a fully operating railway station right through the 60s, in fact there's stories — it has two fireplaces in it — and there's stories of people pinching the coals, and putting them in golden syrup tins to put between their legs to keep them warm while they went to school in Christchurch," he said.
Over the years it had suffered damage from earthquakes, windstorms, fires, vandalism and even, on one particularly unlucky day, a lightning strike. It had been moved four times after various disasters.
Thanks to the care of the locals, it has now outlived almost all of the town's other historic buildings. Only three were left after the Canterbury earthquakes, Atkinson said.
"It's absolutely wonderful that hopefully it's found its last resting place," he added.
The station had won a new round of fans in recent years, after being repurposed into a coffee spot — named Paris for the Weekend — and many showed up to watch the big lift this morning.
Many sung praises of the private developer behind the project, Kaiapoi Jedd Pearce, who recently purchased the building from the Kaiapoi Railway Station Trust.
In the end, all those nerves from the onlookers came to nothing. The crane workers gave the order and within minutes, 119 years of history was dangling in the air over an enraptured audience.
"It was fantastic! My favourite watering hole up and away," another onlooker Pauline Hocking said.
"I feel lifted," joked her friend Bobby Te Tana.
As it was safely lowered to its new home over the river, young and old were in awe.
"It went all the way to the top," shouted 3-year-old Norah Davies.
"It's a very special building, part of Kaiapoi," echoed Carl Marshall, who has lived in the town for 80 years.
The builder's measurements were bang on — it weighed in at just over 40 tonnes, and arrived in one piece to the great relief of those on the tools.
"I feel much more relaxed now than the last couple of days," joked project manager Hazeldine, when it was all said and done.
The move executed with such precision, the old railwaymen of Kaiapoi would have been proud — putting their creation in pride of place, more than a century on.
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