Just the other day I mentioned the old Tramways Building, the historical landmark in the heart of the Port Elizabeth city centre, and lamented how run down it has become.
Well it was announced on Wednesday that the Municipality has awarded Pambili Developments (Pty) Ltd the tender to redevelop the Tramways building. The development will contain a mix of tourism, leisure, entertainment and office space. The construction will begin in April 2008.
The Tramways redevelopment project will be managed by Mandela Bay Development Agency which was also responsible for the major Urban Renewal project in Market Square and Govan Mbeki Avenue, which we featured recently. So it looks like things are really looking up in the Historic Areas of our city, yay, well done guys!
(edit: I just did a much more detailed post about this on my other blog, with stunning vintage photos of floods going through the building in the 1800s!)
(If you want to read more about this we have a cool local website called MyPE where you can find out lots about the place. The link is to the news article but just click on home to get to the whole site)
It is a really beautiful building; I can not wait to see what becomes of it when it is redone. I’ll bed it will be breathtaking.
ReplyDeletehi UH, will keep you posted!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it wonderful that is gets a facelift?
ReplyDeleteWonderful news, indeed. A mixture of tourism, leisure and entertainment, nice! :)
ReplyDeleteRe: the Back Bay roofs, yes, those are mansard roofs. Delightful, aren't they?
Cheers!
Will it be fully restored or just redeveloped as part of the larger scheme?
ReplyDeleteClarice, from what I can gather, the building itself will be developed as a mall, but there is a seperate proposal to develop the river that runs in a canal beside the building into an eco-friendly wetland and lake. This will probably be a catalyst for further development of the valley.
ReplyDeleteI'll write more about it, and post some fascinating vintage photos of past floods there, on my personal blog (arty fartying around) in the next few days. Sue