OUT OF THE VAULT: Sad history of stalled EL Beachfront projects

for years east london has had grand plans to become a favoured destination for south africa’ s coastal tourists – with little success .

its grand schemes have fallen by the wayside, like the plan to build a new hotel between seaview terrace and the aquarium.

the r14 million kings hotel and leisure centre project was given city council approval in january 1988, and a month later, the old kings hotel was demolished. work was scheduled to start in june that year on the new hotel. in august, construction was stopped because the owner ran into financial problems.

in march 1991, the site was bought by murray and roberts construction for r2.6m. again the project did not get off the ground; 1992 plans – which included an office block, five cinemas and “other entertainment projects” – also never saw the light of day .

in august 1997, the dispatch reported on plans to build a r200 million casino and hotel complex at the marina glen- eastern beach area. at the time, tsogo sun chairman sipho tanana said it would take two years to build.

but this became marred in controversy because “the gambling board has not yet been established and the council’s resolution with the marina glen- eastern beach development plan was referred to the provincial economic, environment and tourism department”.

in march 2008, the dispatch reported on uncertainty regarding a multi-million rand project said to change the face of the beachfront. the previous year the buffalo city development agency (bcda) had called for tenders to develop a 31000m² piece of land next to holiday inn.

the proposed r700m development included the construction of a hotel, apartments and a shopping centre, the dispatch reported at the time. the area still has still not been developed.

also in march 2008, the dispatch reported that east london could have its first five-star boutique hotel after the bcda announced a successful tender to develop seaview terrace. again, nothing came of it.

the manager of the popular beachfront restaurant la terrazza, john turnbull , said it was sad the municipality had neglected to develop the beachfront along with the rest of the city.

turnbull said east london was the only coastal city that had “turned its back on their beachfront” and that only street lights and tiles were fixed up.

“every coastal city has a developed beachfront, even knysna. the beachfront could be used as a drawcard to attract people. when people who live in inland parts of the country want to go on holiday, they want to go to the coast and our coast is not even safe.”

andré grobler, 70, of andré grobler’s art gallery, said the east london beachfront was “hostile” and “impractical” and had no public toilet facilities or even a chemist.

“ag! i just feel like crying when i think about the untapped potential here that no one seems to care about.”

tourism buffalo city ceo peter king said that the bcda was responsible for the improvement of the beachfront. “from a tourism point of view, it could be more attractive though ... tourists prefer safer environments, even people from east london go to gonubie because it’s cleaner and safer.”

last year, members of the bcda board resigned en masse amid claims by former chairperson andrew hendricks that a communication breakdown made it virtually “impossible” for the agency to function.

bcm spokesperson samkelo ngwenya acknowledged development in that area had been slow; legal challenges had been “hindering proposed developments around the beachfront”.

“as we head towards becoming a metro, we are optimistic that this area will reach its full potential and spearhead the economic growth of our city whilst standing as a beacon of hope in pushing back the frontiers of poverty for our people,” ngwenya said.

by siya boya