The completion date for the renovations at East London city hall has been extended to the end of December.
The project of refurbishing and renewing the historical building constructed in 1897 started in August last year after the Buffalo City Metro (BCM) building and maintenance division sourced more than R5-million for the work to be carried out.
BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi said the initial completion date set was October, however, the project was delayed by five weeks of rain, and one week was lost due to labour department notices given to contractors on site.
“The building is a historical building and therefore repairs to all items had to be purpose-made to match the existing , which took time,” said Ngesi.
City Hall has been out of use since the renovations started, which has seen ratepayers having to fork out more than R1-million to rent venues for council meetings.
The bulk of the money has gone to the Abbotsford Christian Centre, which hires out its facilities under a separate business entity, the Border Conference Centre (BCC).
In June more than R600000 was paid over to BCC for the lease of he venue between October last year and May this year.
The municipality has also incurred costs for new furniture at its temporary offices in Fleet Street, according to previous Dispatch reports.
Some damage was caused to City Hall last year in February during a salary protest by South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) supporters.
Office furniture and parts of the landmark building were damaged.
A Daily Dispatch team visited the facility last week but then was barred from entering after a security guard recognised one of the reporters.
“Earlier this year a reporter sneaked in and took a picture inside – we got a lashing for this,” said one guard.
From the outside two construction workers could be seen scraping the walls, and scaffolding was still erected on one side of the building.
Ngesi said the work that was being carried out included the replacement of roof gutters, exterior and interior painting, repairs to all kitchens, rooms, toilets, skirting mouldings and replacing all rotten flooring.
BCM extends City Hall project
The project of refurbishing and renewing the historical building constructed in 1897 started in August last year after the Buffalo City Metro (BCM) building and maintenance division sourced more than R5-million for the work to be carried out.
BCM spokesman Keith Ngesi said the initial completion date set was October, however, the project was delayed by five weeks of rain, and one week was lost due to labour department notices given to contractors on site.
“The building is a historical building and therefore repairs to all items had to be purpose-made to match the existing , which took time,” said Ngesi.
City Hall has been out of use since the renovations started, which has seen ratepayers having to fork out more than R1-million to rent venues for council meetings.
The bulk of the money has gone to the Abbotsford Christian Centre, which hires out its facilities under a separate business entity, the Border Conference Centre (BCC).
In June more than R600000 was paid over to BCC for the lease of he venue between October last year and May this year.
The municipality has also incurred costs for new furniture at its temporary offices in Fleet Street, according to previous Dispatch reports.
Some damage was caused to City Hall last year in February during a salary protest by South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) supporters.
Office furniture and parts of the landmark building were damaged.
A Daily Dispatch team visited the facility last week but then was barred from entering after a security guard recognised one of the reporters.
“Earlier this year a reporter sneaked in and took a picture inside – we got a lashing for this,” said one guard.
From the outside two construction workers could be seen scraping the walls, and scaffolding was still erected on one side of the building.
Ngesi said the work that was being carried out included the replacement of roof gutters, exterior and interior painting, repairs to all kitchens, rooms, toilets, skirting mouldings and replacing all rotten flooring.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos