Speaking to members of the media community in Bloemfontein on Wednesday, Executive Mayor of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, Olly Mlamleli, said while it may seem like there is no work being done on the restoration of the Bloemfontein City Hall, much work has already been done and if all goes according to plan, the building may be restored by October 2019.
“We are hoping to be done with the building by October 2019. If there might be snags, then maybe we will stretch it to December 2019,” Mlamleli revealed.
Her statements come after opposition party, the Freedom Front Plus, blasted Mlamleli last week for the lack of communication on her side with regards to developments on the building’s restoration.
Mlamleli revealed that the building was insured for close to R200 million and that the insurance company would henceforth be in charge of the restorative process as well as the tendering process, which will take place next month or in August later this year.
“Because we handed everything over to the insurers, they too must hand over the building to us once it is completed. This is the insurer’s responsibility and Mangaung is not responsible for this restorative process,” Mlamleli added.
Meanwhile, Anton Roodt, architect, revealed that on 18 July there would be a compulsory site visit for all interested contractors. “Soon after that, when the tender has been accepted by the procurement department of the insurance, the actual contract amount will be known. That is, what it will cost to reinstate the building,” Roodt said.
Roodt also revealed that the first phase of this project, which consisted of clearing the building of rubble and asbestos remnants, had already passed and the oversight visit would mark the beginning of the second phase, which sought to find the right people to complete the restoration of the building.
Roodt said that while much of the work still needed to be done, a significant part of the groundwork in evaluating materials needed for the restoration has already been done. He added that the hall’s roof would not be covered in the meantime as it would be too time consuming to do so. Work that remains to be done also includes the cleaning of the marble floors, which requires the use of certain materials. He said that owing to certain factors, sourcing some materials locally would prove to be impossible and some materials such as the wood used for the window frames and roof tiles would need to be imported.
The City Hall is a national heritage site and on 21 June 2017, when it was allegedly torched by striking municipal workers, historians and civil society all over the country lamented, calling the incident a “tragedy and a blow to the local economy”. The hall is considered a national heritage site as it was built in 1935. It has a beautiful Italian-style interior with an attractive sandstone exterior. It is a large, stately sandstone building with marble interiors designed by the well-known South African architect, Sir Gordon Leith.
PULANE CHOANE
[email protected]
