Update breathes new life into city hall area
THE steel cut-outs of people in different poses which have been erected outside the Pietermaritzburg City Hall are having the desired effect, with people noticing and stopping to ponder them.
The Msunduzi Municipality’s acting marketing and communications manager, Nqobile Madonda, said many people had been asking about the structures on the median outside the city hall.
The structures are part of a revamp the municipality undertook in front of the city hall which cost more than R16 million.
The precinct has been paved with red brick and the new look includes new landscaping, street furniture and special public art features.
Madonda said the city deemed the area around the city hall a significant zone.
A sculpture that reflected the municipality’s changing environment and growth had been put up to conceptualise the city’s vision, that comprised the elements of movement, strength, a caring society, justice and freedom.
“The concept of the structure with the five figurines resembling people made out of corten steel focuses on introducing a special element of public art to capture the unique qualities or values of the ‘City of Choice’,” said Madonda.
She said the colour of the weathered steel would change with time, but added that the figures blended aesthetically with the red brick paving which formed part of the upgrade. The sculptures had been strategically placed in front of the art gallery to evoke the idea of the movement of people in the municipality and the “Rebirth of the City” programme.