Ilka wants to take charge of Rhodes Park

The I Love Kensington Association (Ilka) wants to take charge of Rhodes Park.

Ilka chairperson, Mr Tony De Munnik, said this will include the park’s restaurant issue, which was covered in the EXPRESS last week.

In last week’s story, the ward 66 councillor, Clr Carlos da Rocha, called on the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) to fix the restaurant building or demolish it.

He also blamed the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) for the current state of dilapidation.

Clr Da Rocha said the problems started many years ago, when a former tenant started using the building as a shebeen type pub.

“Residents complained, saying the patrons were making a noise and fighting in the middle of the night.

The tenant also stopped paying rent to the CoJ. The residents also said it was bringing down the value of the area. This led to the pub being closed,” he said.

Clr Da Rocha said the JPC did not act swiftly enough, when the problem was still occurring.

Following this, the JPC executive manager of property management, Mr Fanis Sardianos, said the restaurant has not been in operation for many years as it has became unsustainable.

“It is in a state of disrepair and is derelict. Due to the state of the restaurant, the JPC has placed the building out on a public tender in order to attract investment. We want to try and renovate the facility to an acceptable standard for utilisation if possible,” he said.

Mr Sardianos reiterated what Clr Da Rocha said.

He said the tender to operate the restaurant was recently awarded to a bidder who failed to operate it. He said the lease was then terminated.

Mr Sardianos said the CoJ may demolish the restaurant if, after consultation with the stake holders, all agree to it.

Mr De Munnik said Ilka has no plans to reinstate the restaurant to its original status.

He said it is an expensive exercise which no investor will be willing to risk.

“It may need R4- to R5-million before we can operate it. The place is also not safe. An investor stands the risk of being robbed,” he said.

Mr De Munnik said security can be addressed with Ilka’s holistic plan for Rhodes Park.

“We want it to be a community park. A place where a family would go to have a picnic on Sunday afternoons, enjoy swimming and enjoy music from the amphitheatre. We have mobile catering stands on-site. We are also looking at having more activities in the park. The annual Spring Fair should be more frequent, not only once a year – maybe even a monthly fair,” he said.

He said this can be achieved by implementing access control to the park.

“Having access control is not denying people the use of public space, but to eliminate the undesired elements; criminals and those who want to abuse it,” he said.

“We would open the gates in the mornings, close them in the evening and control and monitor the traffic there,” he said.

He said by doing this, Ilka is looking at making the park a safe and attractive place for the entire community.

He said Ilka is also working on a face-lift for the soccer fields at the park.

Mr De Munnik said there is a PSL team that may also use the soccer fields for its academy.

He said this activity would not prevent the public from using the fields as well.

“We just need to control what is happening there. We encourage the development of leagues here. This will help with the development of the sport as well,” he said.

He said access control would help people know when the grounds were available for use.