I toured the East City precinct in the Cape Town Central City yesterday – and saw two amazing projects, and one disaster.
I first went to the City Hall to see the installation of the Spier Contemporary biennial Arts Competition and Exhibition, set to open on 14 March. In my view – we’re in for a treat! The exhibition is organised by the Africa Centre and will showcase 132 pieces from 100 South African artists. The best news is that the City Hall is finally receiving a bit of a – albeit temporary – makeover, showing what the space could look like if it is properly restored.
Clutter and debris dating back to the 1970s being removed from the City Hall to create bright modern exhibition spaces
Majestic spaces - where the City Library (now next door in the restored Old Drill Hall) used to be
Next, I went around the corner to Caledon Street to the Sachs-Futeran building to look at the new Fugard Theatre. Its going to be the home of the award-winning Isango-Portobello Theatre Company. Situated in an old Congregational Church Hall and an adjacent warehouse, it is one of the best restorations of an historic building I have seen in a long time. The Fugard opens on 12 February with Mozart’s The Magic Flute-Impempe Yomlingo. Situated next door to the District Six Homecoming Centre, and the Old Granary Building (also due for an upgrade in 2010), the complex is set to become the heart of the Cape Town Partnership’s East City Design Initiative.
The entrance to The Fugard in Caledon Street, off Buitenkant Street
Rehearsal space on the second floor
Terri Carter of the Cape Town Partnership auditions on stage
The roof terrace boasts some of the best views in the Central City
See recent Sunday Times article on The Fugard by Marianne Thamm
And finally – the bad.
I walked around the newly-upgraded Grand Parade and was bitterly disappointed in what I saw. The Grand Parade is Cape Tow’s oldest public space. It is one of our most important heritage sites. It was where Nelson Mandela first spoke to the world as a free man 20 years ago. It is the venue for the official FIFA Fan Fest in June. The City of Cape Town has recently spent R22m on upgrading the Parade. It looks like this:
The brand new brickwork is covered in ugly oil stains due to the vans and bakkies that are allowed to park there
New paving turning to rubble due to lack of maintenance
The vandalised base of a monument
Lack of cleansing and refuse removal mars the environment
The main problem is that the City does not have a public space management policy and strategy in place. No one is responsible or accountable for maintenance and management, even though many of the spaces have been beautifully upgraded by the City in recent years. This issue, which has been kicking around the Civic Centre for the past four years, needs to be resolved once and for all. Watch this space!
A story on the state of the Grand Parade appeared in the Weekend Argus on 30 January 2010:
Vandals trash Grand Parade after upgrade
City’s main fan park ‘not managed’
By Helen Bamford
The Grand Parade, the site of Cape Town’s main fan park for the World Cup, was upgraded at a cost of R24 million but within weeks has been damaged and vandalised, apparently because of a lack of management.
In his blog, the chief executive of the Cape Town Partnership, Andrew Boraine, described his disappointment after walking around the newly-upgraded site.
He posted photographs of what he saw: brickwork covered in oil stains from vehicles permitted to park on the parade, new paving turned into rubble due to lack of maintenance and the vandalised base of a monument.
He says the main problem was that the city did not have a public space management policy and strategy.
“No one is responsible or accountable for maintenance and management, even though many of the spaces have been beautifully upgraded by the city in recent years.”
The city’s 2010 co-ordinators are also concerned.
Shameel Ho-Kim, project co-ordinator for the city’s 2010 operations office, said the Grand Parade was a high priority for 2010 and they wanted it closely managed.
He said that they had raised their concerns with the city’s sports and recreation department, under which the Grand Parade fell.
“They have indicated it will be managed more closely with increased patrols.”
The Parade will be fenced off from May 1 for construction of the fan park which will create a stadium atmosphere accommodating an estimated 25 000 people, with an overflow along Darling Street which will take 15 000 people.
All 64 World Cup games will be screened live at the fan park which will be open from 10am until midnight on match days with hospitality areas and beer tents.
The city has appointed an operator called Grand World Visions, a consortium of World Sport, VWV and Grand Parade Investments, to plan, implement and manage the fan fest on its behalf.
Paul Williamson, city service co-ordinator for business areas management, said the city had identified two alternative sites for existing traders during the World Cup.
The city would ensure that the Grand Parade was in a suitable condition for the fan fest, and the damage identified would be repaired.
Weekend Argus sent written questions to Gerhard Ras, the councillor in charge of sports and recreation under which the Grand Parade falls, on Thursday asking who was responsible for managing the site and why it was not being done.
He did not respond but Gert Bam, director of sport, recreation and amenities, said the areas requiring attention since the upgrade were not substantial.
In one area the electricity department had “disturbed the paving” during an installation.
“This caused a ripple effect on the surrounding paving. We have asked the electricity department to correct this.”
In other areas the paving seemed to have sagged.
“As we are still in the maintenance period of the contract a snag list has been drafted and the urban design department which managed this project will interact with the contractor to attend to all the snag items,” Bam said.
Published on the web by Cape Argus on January 29, 2010.
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© Cape Argus 2010. All rights reserved.
many thanks for this east city status update andrew. i have been looking at that church building for years and are amazed what the restorers have done. i look forward to many more magical visual moments to smile upon the east city.
The Grand Parade is desperately disappointing. I am particularly dismayed by the freshly planted pines. Why on earth showcase exotics in the Cape Floral Kingdom?
Stone Pines were specifically chosen after a long debate because they were the original trees lining the Grand Parade.