Dilapidated building reflects badly on city

THE building known as Malbador, at 9 Castle Hill, which greets tourists to our city as they visit our iconic 7 Castle Hill Museum, has been in a state of disrepair for many years, as the residents of our city will confirm. It has even caught fire, threatening its valuable neighbour!

The curator of 7 Castle Hill, Grizel Hart, has doggedly reported the problem to our city fathers and the agents of the owner, to no avail.

The building inspectorate, in the land and planning department, has failed to do its duty, to ensure that a registered heritage building, at No7, is protected from hazards inherent in No9 through repair and restoration. This notwithstanding, it must give a shocking impression of the value this metro places on its few remaining tourist attractions.

Tourism and its value is trumpeted by the mayor and his supporters, but what is being done, in reality?

Pieces of the roof, in a high wind, blow into the Castle Hill Museum property, vagrants frequent the building, and it clearly requires a health and safety inspection from our officials. A local tour guide has informed me she apologises to her clients, on behalf of the metro's citizens, as they alight from her bus.

This is but one example of the lack of value placed on our heritage treasures in this metro as Fort Frederick is regularly filled with filth and vagrants, the gardens on the Donkin Reserve are full of weeds, priceless heritage structures situated in the vicinity of the Donkin Row (practically unrecognisable after its cavalier and heritage-insensitive cleanup) are crumbling. But millions are being blithely spent on facelifts in pockets of the city, a stone's throw from our problem areas, with what was Sunnyside and the once delightful Holy Rosary Convent wrecks in the midst of much beautification?

Quo vadis, Port Elizabeth?

Bernice Wright, DA councillor and heritage spokesman, Nelson Mandela Metro