Mushroom Farm Park upgrades highlights possibilities for public and private partnerships
SANDTON – A private company has contributed over R50 million to the upgrade of Mushroom Farm Park.
Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo has welcomed the partnership between the public and private sector that will see the Truffles in the Park restaurant contribute to the upkeep of Mushroom Farm Park.
The restaurant will be the first located at a public park and will showcase how public and private partnership can help maintain and upgrade public spaces.
Ward 91 councillor Jeffery Pietersen said, “It’s been a long road, there have been many objects that have come in the way that we have managed to negotiate to get us to this point.”
Mushroom Farm Park was used by Bombela Concession Company, which built the Gautrain, as a means of accessing the tunnel during its construction. Following its completion, Bombela had committed to reinstating the park to its original condition.
During this time, residents and councillors gathered together to create a master plan of what they hoped the park would look like eventually. Francis Chikasha, the director of Aerial Displays, began discussing with the City the possibility of having a large helium balloon at the park. Following many discussions with the City, the company adopted the master plan proposed by residents and committed to upgrading the park.
“Over a 10-year period, Aerial Displays has invested over R50 million in the improvement and maintenance of the park,” said Chikasha.
This includes an irrigation system, a camera system throughout the park, jogging trails, a new fence and sidewalks surrounding the park and a new ablution facility, among others.
The restaurant is one of the largest projects undertaken by Aerial Displays and the restaurant offers a voluntary conservation levy of two per cent which is levied on every guest bill and matched by the restaurant to raise funds for further park upgrades.
The MMC for Community Development, Nonhlanhla Sifumba, said, “Public park private partnerships are important because they not only alleviate pressure from the City’s side but it also boosts the local economy and creates much-needed jobs.”
Sifumba added that an excess of 30 jobs have been created for residents from Alexandra.
“We always considered that Mushroom Farm Park would be a reflection of parks that are widely known around the world. When we started this project we looked at places like Hyde Park, Central Park and Bryant Park and we wanted to model what we wanted to do here on the basis of those world-class parks,” said Chikasha.
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