BUSINESS Strand Pavilion upgrade set to boost lifestyle for residents and visitors

CAPE Town Tourism is confident a major R11.4 million Strand Pavilion precinct upgrade will inject “new life and energy” into the False Bay suburb’s beachfront.

There are hopes it will help the area compete with popular beach strips closer to the centre of the Mother City. The city began upgrading the area on Beach Road at the end of last month and construction is expected to be completed by June 2018.

Enver Duminy, chief executive of Cape Town Tourism, said while there was year- round activity at the pavilion, the upgrade would mean visitors “get more out of the attraction”.

“As the city grows, both for locals and in visitor numbers, we will need more options when it comes to places to explore,” he said.

Duminy expects the rejuvenation of the pavilion area to attract a surge in visitors.

“This reinvention of familiar places injects new life and energy into an attraction and it’s bound to get curious visitors going for the first time, as well as those who have been travelling from around the city to go there for years.”

The city said the upgrades would benefit “residents from all walks of life who love spending time here”.

The project includes the resurfacing of the parking near the Strand public swimming pool, creation of an informal trading area, and the installation of lighting to make the area more secure after dark. Contractors will also build a paved, pedestrianised public square with public seating.

Cape Town’s mayoral committee member for energy, environmental and spatial planning, Johan van der Merwe, said the upgrade would benefit local businesses and informal traders.

The ANC, however, has called the upgrade “discriminatory”, saying Strand was a “privileged area” and other parts of the city should have been upgraded first.

Van der Merwe said the contractor which won the contract would make use of local Expanded Public Works Programme employees, creating jobs for residents.

The “necessary facelift” would, however, temporarily inconvenience residents using Beach Road.

Carl Punt, the councillor for Ward 83 in which the pavilion precinct falls, said traffic, park- ing and pavements would be affected during the construction period with reduced parking in the area.

The upgrade includes rehabilitating the Strand sea wall. This is part of amultimillion-rand project to strengthen this wall, a project Punt said was necessary because the old sea wall had deteriorated and seawater came over the wall, especially during spring tide.

“The wall’s upgrade is planned in three phases and the first phase – from the Pavilion Precinct to Da Gama Street, is presently being built,” he said. jan.cronje@inl.co.za

PICTURE: CITY OF CAPE TOWN Construction on the R11.4 million upgrade of the Strand Pavilion precinct began last month and is expected to be completed by mid-2018.