Carol King remembers sewing the curtains for the Deaf Society of Canterbury's building in Armagh St decades ago.
This afternoon, she watched with tears in her eyes as the same curtains were put in a rubbish skip.
''It's pretty emotional to see it go,'' King told The Press.
''I wanted to run in and save the curtains.''
Dozens of members of Christchurch's deaf community gathered today as their ''home of the last 50 years'' was torn down in front of them.
The centre, built in 1964, was badly damaged in the February 2011 earthquake.
Society president Gregory Pateman said the clubhouse was ''the heart of the deaf community''.
''Seeing it come down is like wrenching our heart out,'' he said.
Society administrator Jane Haigh said the clubhouse had been ''much more than a building''.
''We've got a really strong deaf community here that's been going for 90 years. Our club was one of the few places where people could come and feel safe and comfortable," she said.
"Often they're the only deaf person at work or at home, and so to come here was a place where they could share the culture.''
Joyce Stockel, 38, said she had been ''born into the club''.
''My parents are deaf and I have been coming to the club my whole life,'' she said.
''It's a place where you can order food and a drink easily and just socialise with other deaf people. It's very sad to see it go.''
Vice-president Josje Lelijveld said the centre was the first place deaf people went to when they moved to Christchurch.
''People, like me, who moved here, know they can come and meet other deaf people and learn New Zealand sign language. Now we don't have that and people won't know where to go,'' Lelijveld said.
The society had hoped to repair the building, but the damage was found to be worse than it thought.
It could not rebuild on the same site because it was in the central-city frame.
''It does feel like it has been taken from us. We're not very happy,'' Pateman said.
Seeing the old building come down was particularly hard as the deaf community now felt ''homeless'', Haigh said.
''This building is now gone and we haven't been able to find a new permanent meeting place for us. We've been meeting at working men's clubs, but it's not the same,'' she said.
The society had received payouts from insurance but was struggling to find a suitable place to buy.
''We need a hall that can hold about 100 people, and a lot of commercial premises can't handle that,'' Haigh said.
Members were considering building on a section but kept being ''priced out'' of the market.
''Our building on Armagh St also had a bar, which we would like to have again, but that rules out a lot of residential areas. We need a home but we're having real problems,'' Haigh said.
