102-yr-old building’s fate in limbo
Public meeting set to be held
Ndlambe Municipality will decide on the future of the Bathurst Centenary Hall which was badly damaged in a fire earlier this year after a public participation process.
This was agreed on at a council meeting on August 30.
The historic venue adjacent to the municipal library served as a community hall as well as offices for the municipality.
The main part of the building was gutted by a fire in the early hours of February 7. The section housing municipal records was not damaged.
The 102-year-old building’s origins meant the fire was more than just the loss of a facility.
The 1820 Settler Memorial Hall was erected in 1920 as part of the Settler centenary commemorations, the Daily Dispatch reported earlier this year.
It had been paid for by subscriptions raised by descendants of Settler families and in recent times, it had been hired for community functions, such as funerals. It had been used every year as a matric exam venue.
In July, Talk of the Town reported on Bathurst residents’ concerns about the hall’s future after an out-of-town contractor removed roofing and other items, and it was rumoured that it was to be demolished.
But the update in the August 30 council meeting may provide some relief.
A report from the municipal manager recommended that council decide on the future of the hall after a public participation meeting for interested and affected parties.
Engineers, meanwhile, had advised the remaining structure was strong enough to build on, the report stated.
A back-and-forth with the municipality’s claim on the
building has resulted in a settlement by the insurer of just over half a million.
A case was opened at the South African Police Service in Bathurst and an insurance claim instituted through council’s assessors, AON.
During March, forensic investigator Brendes Gresse was appointed by Crawford & Company loss adjustors acting for the Insurers, Guardrisk.
On June 7, AON dropped the bombshell that the municipality’s claim was repudiated. The message came via Shigirai Chinaka, a claim advocacy specialist acting on behalf of AON.
But the reasons for rejecting the claim were vague and relied on hearsay, Ndlambe believed.
“Further, the report received from the SAPS Forensic Services confirmed that in their opinion, the cause of the fire was accidental,” the report to the recent council meeting stated.
They appealed and a settlement of R517,948 was agreed on. Of that, R234,243 was for electronic equipment and R57,636 for office contents.
There is no insurance payout for the building itself, however.
TotT asked Ndlambe municipal spokesperson Cecil Mbolekwa about the actual amount for the building itself.
In response Mbolekwa said: “We only know the amount of R226,068 is reflected as ‘combined’ and we have taken it as provided.”