#BenoniBygones: The journey of the Mineworkers’ Hall
In March 1922, during the mine strikes, the Workers' Hall was bombed from the air and severely damaged.
The City Times is proud to revive a monthly history piece compiled by local history enthusiast Glynis Cox Millett-Clay, which she has named Benoni Bygones.
The Mineworkers’ Hall, also known as the Workers’ Hall or the Traders’ Hall, was a one-storey building with lovely gothic-type gables erected in 1920, at 91 Prince’s Avenue (then Market Avenue).
The architects and builders are not know.
In those days, Benoni did not yet have a town hall, so the top floor of the Mineworkers’ Hall was used for large functions, concerts, meetings, dancing and other social events. A story was told that it had a sprung wooden floor, which was renowned as the best in the land to dance on.
The ground floor was occupied by C van der Merwe, a draper, milliner and dressmaker.
On March 8, 1922, a general strike was declared and the first floor became the headquarters of the strikers.
Red-rosetted trade union officials busily scurried in and out of the hall and it soon became the liveliest spot in the town.
Early one morning in March 1922, during the mine strikes, the Workers’ Hall was bombed from the air and severely damaged.
A bomb went through the roof and the building went up in flames, which destroyed the hall and kitchen, as well as the back wall facing Ampthill Avenue.
This bombing was the second attempt to destroy the site.
ALSO READ: Benoni Bygones: How our city became know as a place ‘where strikes were born’
The previous day’s raid did not hit the targeted Workers’ Hall as planned by the authorities.
However, the bombs that fell, struck the Park Café on the corner of Woburn Avenue and Bunyan Street.
Another bomb hit the court house and yet another fell on vacant ground opposite the municipal offices and did not explode.
Benoni was the only town during the strike to be targeted and bombed from the air and it took quite some time before the Workers’ Hall building was restored and used once again.
In 1938, it became the Lido Theatre, managed for over 40 years by Jules and Jessie Cohen before they immigrated to Toronto.
It was said that Jessie was often found selling tickets in her cramped space and Jules manned the confectionery counter.
In May 1979 the Lido Theatre changed hands and was renamed Vistarama under the new management of Des Jonker.
He enthusiastically made improvements to the exterior and interior of the building to bring about the great opportunities and exciting changes he envisioned.
Due to the uneconomical venture, the Vistarama was once again sold in July 1982, this time to the Rhema Church run by Pastor Darryl Cross and his wife, Carol.
They officially moved in on August 1, 1982.
In 1987, Milton Korsketidis, owner of the Prime Grill steakhouse, bought the building and modified it into a double-storey steakhouse, which boasted a conference facility and ladies bar upstairs and a waiting bar downstairs.
The restaurant could seat 440 people and was considered, at the time, one of the largest restaurants in South Africa.
Prime Grill moved to Northmead in 1997 and the building became a night club before being left unoccupied for some time.
Vagrants made it their home, resulting in a base for criminal activities, which became an eyesore and a danger to Benoni.
The old Mineworkers’ Hall was demolished in 2003 and brought great relief to businesses in the area.
(Sources: Environs of the Golden City, Benoni Son of My Sorrow and snippets from BCT/by Glynis Cox Millett-Clay – 11 March 2017/updated Aug 2024).
ALSO READ: Benoni Bygones: The early beginnings of Kleinfontein Mine
