November 14, 2003
By Lucille Davie
AT a relaxed ceremony on Thursday night, the title deeds of the City Hall were formally handed over to the new owners, the Gauteng legislature.
A smiling executive mayor Amos Masondo handed the documents to the Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, Firoz Cachalia, under a glittering chandelier in one of the west rooms of the City Hall. The event was witnessed by around 60 people, consisting of city councillors and officials, provincial MECs and business people.
Masondo said: "As we hand over City Hall to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, we do so with pride and hope that you will continue with the old but positive tradition that characterises the stature and charisma of City Hall."
The City sold the 88-year-old City Hall two years ago, in November 2001, for an amount of R20-million. The legal transfer finally occurred this year, and so far two of four R5-million payments have been made. The legislature intends investing R60-million over an eight-year period in refurbishing and modernising, and creating new office space in the building.
This is to be done in four phases and some of the immediate changes will be to:
- refurbish the public toilets
- change the public entrance to the Rissik Street entrance
- pedestrianise some of the streets surrounding the City Hall
- develop conference facilities
- establish a public forum where the public can observe debates
The deal also involves the purchase of the Harry Hofmeyr Parking Garage, the archive storage areas of the Johannesburg Library and the Beyers Naude Gardens between the library and the City Hall.
The City retains the right to develop the gardens in accordance with its inner city rejuvenation initiative.
Cachalia was careful to emphasise that the Legislature was very aware of "preserving a sense of the public domain so that the citizens of the city could appreciate themselves and feel a part of the political commitment of 1994", by opening up the building to the public.
Longer-term changes will be to develop the west wing of the City Hall into a tourist attraction with a site for art and cultural activities, including re-establishing the building as the "home for the symphony orchestra and for the performing arts generally". Curios and memorabilia would also be on sale.
The Legislature is also concerned with the history of the building, which was declared a national monument in 1979. A comprehensive history of the City Hall has been compiled, and this will guide the restoration work. That history included protest meetings in the 50s, on its steps; a bomb blast outside the main entrance in 1988; the site of FW de Klerk's national referendum (to test the white electorate on his negotiations with unbanned black liberation parties) voting station in 1992; and being a voter education centre in the run up to democratic elections in 1994.
Cachalia stressed that plans for the City Hall were be executed in the context of Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa's announcement on 20 October that the area is to be considered a "government precinct". Any changes will be made in keeping with other city initiatives like the Newtown Cultural Precinct and the Nelson Mandela Bridge.
"Over the next few years, this part of the city will be transformed beyond recognition. This should give hope and pride to the residents of the city and all its stakeholders, as well as the people of our province and the citizens of our land," said Cachalia.
The City Hall design came out of a competition held in 1909. The winning design was won by a Cape Town firm Hawke and McKinlay. The building contractor was Mattheus Meischke, who built the building for £503 000. Meischke also built the Rissik Street Post Office, and the Meische Building on the corner of Market and Harrison streets, housing the Guildhall Pub on its ground floor. The City Hall was completed in January 1915, and occupied by town officials in April of that year.
A further two storeys were added in 1937, with the tower being painstakingly dismantled stone for stone and re-erected after the addition. The building is typical of the 19th century town hall building tradition, with its classical columns and portico and high-domed tower.
The Gauteng Legislature took a decision shortly before the 1994 democratic elections to move from Pretoria to Johannesburg, after unsuccessful bids by Pretoria and Midrand to tempt them into remaining in Pretoria or moving to Midrand.
A business coalition, led by Neil Fraser, executive director of the Central Johannesburg Partnership, was instrumental in persuading then-premier Tokyo Sexwale to move to Johannesburg from their Pretoria base.
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