It is hard to imagine that the magnificent Port Elizabeth City Hall was almost demolished. The article below, first published in the Evening Post in January 1973, describes a meeting organised by the Port Elizabeth Historical Society where arguments on both sides of the preservation versus development debate were presented. We stumbled across the article in Bulletin, the old journal of the Simon van der Stel Foundation (today the Heritage Association of South Africa).
The director of the Simon van der Stel Foundation, Dr. W. Punt warned recently that if the historic 110-year old City Hall was demolished the importance of the city’s central area would decline.
Addressing a meeting called by the Port Elizabeth Historical Society and attended by about 120 people, Dr Punt, pleading for the preservation of the building, said the City Hall was part of our heritage, not only of Port Elizabeth but of South Africa.
The meeting decided, in spite of several speakers opposing the retention of the building, to ask the National Monuments Commission to investigate declaring the City Hall a national monument.
This was decided by a show of hands and without a count. But it was obvious the majority favoured preservation.
Port Elizabeth City Hall (The Heritage Portal)
Respect for the past
“Tradition speaks to all of us. It is tradition...
