Dear Editor, I, amongst many other caring Benoni residents, am horrified at the fact that the EMM allowed the process to go ahead with the demolition of those most beautiful and historically valuable 93 Bedford Avenue semis.
And this took place just two days before Heritage Day!
I am not at all opposed to progress and, in fact, acknowledge the fact that many period buildings were demolished during the development of Benoni towards its status as a modern and progressive town over the years, but, another fact is that what little remains of our heritage is being wiped out before our very eyes, so what remains we desperately need to preserve.
Those semis were one of the last remaining residential buildings from very early Benoni.
An earlier pair remain in lower Cranbourne Avenue, but I despair for their future!
One pays to visit historical sites of an equal age elsewhere in SA, yet we blithely allow our remaining gems to be wiped out in lieu of such instances as an architecturally-devoid parking lot!
There were essentially three phases in Benoni town’s development: firstly, early Benoni from Wilstead up to Russel Street between 1904 to 1910; secondly, from Russel Street to the railway line (Western Extension) until the 1930s, and then from the railway line westwards.
The once-graceful and aesthetically pleasing Westdene has, in my opinion, become a tasteless “Dallas movie set” in the making.
The grandiose Technical College in Liverpool Road is being raped, while the EMM stands by and watches, and our City Hall was almost pillaged, while the Benoni Plaza area has become a veritable slum.
Our museum has become just that: a museum laid out years ago without any effort made to record the real history of Benoni with records of the people who built it.
The point is that, without visible history, we become ignorant of our foundations and heritage.
Please fellow Benonians and EMM, let’s keep some reminders of those who laid out our town in 1904 and for each decade onwards.
