Cape Town – The R80 million revamp of the badly rundown Bonteheuwel town centre should begin by June, according to ward councillor Angus McKenzie.
Community organisations, religious bodies, ratepayers and tenant associations have joined McKenzie to form a project steering committee to decide on the first phase of the project, envisioned as the creation of a “legacy point to give back pride to a community".
“There is far too much potential in Bonteheuwel to let it slip away. With this project we hope to bring back pride to the area. At the end of the day, self-pride is external pride,” McKenzie said.
The old Bonteheuwel town centre, which once was a thriving business area, had become a rundown square where people dump their rubbish, and steal the brick paving and cart it away in wheelie bins, very close to the building used as a base for law enforcement and metro police officers, he pointed out.
McKenzie said all existing buildings and structures would be demolished and a state-of-the-art retail, security and transport hub built on the square, which lies midway between Netreg station in the south-east and Bonteheuwel station in the north.
Discussions had been held with retail giant Shoprite, Pep Stores and hardware stores about becoming anchor tenants.
Only the library, civic centre and municipal offices would remain the same, he said.
“What we want is for the new building to become a security hub with a lookout point. Officers stationed here will be for this area, so crime prevention and reaction to crime will be a whole lot quicker,” said McKenzie.
Public participation was crucial to the project as “this will ensure that the space will be well looked after”, he said.
The project would be funded by the Department of Public Works, with the inception amount of R2 million being contributed by the mayoral regeneration fund.