Art Deco initiative for Springs
The Eastern Gauteng Chamber of Commerce and Industry gathered with officials from the metro and local business people to discuss the possibility of creating tourists attraction sites through the use of Art Deco buildings in Springs.
The gathering on Thursday was the beginning stages of what both parties hope to be a successful partnership between the chamber and the metro to pioneer the Art Deco initiative.
“We need to discuss where we are going and what we hope to achieve with this initiative,” says Mary Reynolds, president of the Eastern Gauteng Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“We are hoping that the chamber and the metro can make a tourist attraction out of Springs.”
Springs is said to have the second largest host of Art Deco buildings after Miami.
“This has great potential for tourism and job upliftment through the job creation opportunities this will bring,” adds Mary.
Alba Letts, who is the divisional head of the Arts, Culture and Heritage Department of the metro, says the metro started profiling Art Deco buildings across Ekurhuleni from last year already.
“We had been looking to get buy-in from one of the towns in Ekurhuleni,” says Alba.
“We will then use the town to provide a platform from which we can pilot this initiative.”
Letts says the metro has been identifying Art Deco buildings that belong to it so as to invest in them and document their heritage status.
“It is about investing in our own buildings and leading an initiative that will bring heritage status to towns across the city,” she adds.
“We want to see these buildings being internationally recognised.”
Letts says in terms of private ownership of these buildings, an appeal is being put forward to the business sector to assist in getting buy-in from private owners.
“We are hoping that the buy-in from private owners of the buildings will help facilitate this process,” she adds.
Under the metro’s slogan of ‘A partnership that works’, Letts says the success of the project will lead to holistic development of the town and local economy.
“By fixing and maintaining these buildings, we will be creating tourism and encouraging job creation which will bring commercial viability,” she says.
Customer relations manager of Springs Civic Centre, Ace Phiri, says the metro is willing to commit itself to working with the chamber to fulfil the vision of seeing Springs as a more developed and cleaner town.
“Work is already happening from the side of the metro,” he says.
“We are committed to seeing a partnership that works and will make Springs greater.”
