Court battle looms to save Gauteng architectural icom
The last resort to save the Gauteng Legislature building could come down to a legal showdown.
The city's business people and heritage activists say a court battle will be necessary if there is continued failure to repair and maintain the 95-year-old architectural icon.
To blame, they say, are the Gauteng Legislature as building owners, the PHRA (Provincial Heritage Resources Agency), and the MEC for arts, culture, sports, recreation and heritage, who has ultimate authority to ensure repairs are carried out on the old Rissik Street City Hall.
"We will be obliged to use legal pressure as a last resort measure because we want to bring back pride to the area," said Renny Plit, a property developer who is executive director of the Joburg Inner-City Business Coalition as well as chairman of the Property Owners and Managers Association.
"Business has ploughed in billions to rejuvenate the inner city through the years, and while we do still have bad buildings that we call sinkholes, we simply can't have the Gauteng Legislature as one of these problem buildings," said Plit.
On June 1, The Star's article, "A dusty old City Hall that belies our pride", highlighted the dire state of the baroque classical and neo-Renaissance-style building that was sold by the City of Joburg to the Gauteng Legislature in 2003.
The old sandstone building used to be the distinguished four-storey city hall in its heyday; now it is eroded, vandalised and marked by pigeon droppings, broken windows, general disrepair and neglect.
But MEC Nelisiwe Moerane, through her communications official, Nomvula Khalo, failed to respond to questions regarding the building for nearly two weeks, after acknowledging receipt of The Star's questions and follow-up phone calls to Moerane's office.
It is inefficiency that business and heritage activists know well.
Flo Bird, chairman of the Parktown and Westcliff Heritage Trust, also points out that the PHRA, which has the legal power to serve a repair order to the Gauteng Legislature, is toothless because it doesn't have status as an independent authority. It's still answerable to the MEC's office.
"It's an unworkable situation. It's unlikely you're going to take the MEC and the Gauteng Legislature to task when they're your bosses.
"The PHRA is not resourced effectively and lacks expertise, so we have an appalling situation that sadly affects more heritage buildings than just the Gauteng Legislature building," said Bird, who supports legal action.
"Business should have looked at legal action against the MEC's office long ago, as they are not accepting their heritage responsibilities," she said.
Bird and Plit also slam excuses by the Gauteng Legislature's operation support services that they don't have enough money to fix the building. In The Star's article, the legislature's operation support services said it would cost R200 million for total renovation of the McKinley and Hawke-designed building.
"We want a plan of action with a proper timeframe. Right now there is no remedial action and no acceptance of responsibility.
"Basic things like rust-proofing, guttering and general repair can take place with a smaller budget," Plit said.
Bird is critical that the state of disrepair has been allowed to persist. "Instead of proper maintenance that should have been done as it was needed, the problems have been allowed to compound, and with it the bill for repairs."
Sandstone specialist Jim Bolt said total restoration of the Gauteng Legislature building is nowhere near the given R200m. Bolt said the figure was closer to R10m.
"It is loving work that will take around three years. With other buildings, including the Pretoria post office in Church Square, which is similar to the Gauteng Legislature building, we did structured payments, so there is no excuse to do nothing," said Bolt.
John Des Fountain, director of operational support services at the legislature, said his department will ask for R17m for the 2011/2012 financial year.
He said this would allow for staggered work on the exterior of the building work and immediate work on the hall's bench seats and royal boxes, and restoration of the old mayoress's parlour and the organ. Bringing the building in line with modern safety standards was also a priority.
"Even if it's just R17 million that is approved in August, people will start to see noticeable changes in the next year," Des Fountain insists.
For Joburg's old heritage icon, however, it continues to be a case of wait and see.
The Star
Posted at 10:28AM Jul 28, 2010 by Editor in Cities and Towns |