A timber church was erected a year later, before capacity became an issue and a new building was built in 1910.

The 1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake destroyed most of the church, but the parish was able to rebuild it in the Spanish Mission style within 12 months.

Demolition One undertook the demolition project in 2020, but business owner Ivan Yukich saw the pillars as a thing of beauty and could not bring himself to break them up.

Yukich died in April 2024 and his beloved pillars, along with other treasures saved from demolition sites, sat in an Awatoto yard.

The owner of the yard and Yukich’s mate Ali Lokhandwala has taken good care of the columns, but is now selling the area and wants to see the historic pieces go to a good home.

Lokhandwala wants to see the columns go to a loving home “intact,” because that’s what Yukich would have wanted.

“Ivan was quite a character,” he said. recalls Lokhandwala says.

“He used to be known as ‘Ivan the Terrible’ around town but he would always come up with the most ingenious solutions to complex demolitions.”

Without Yukich the demolition business “hit the skids” and now Lokhandwala and Harmz Hemi are cleaning up the yard and hoping to move Yukich’s prized possessions to new, loving homes.

Anyone interested in the columns can pick them up for free from 44 Briasco St, Awatoto. First in, first served.