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A living link to Joburg's mining past, Main Street has
been turned around from an uninviting grey strip into a vibrant, attractive and
busy pedestrian mall.
MAIN STREET'S radical transformation from an
empty, gloomy and decaying strip into a vibrant, busy road has been recognised with
a Halala Joburg Award, winning this year in the category Sustaining Joburg.
Halala Award winner in the category Past, Present and Future
The category's theme was Past, present and
future. Run by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), the annual Halala
Joburg Awards are handed out to projects that are reviving the inner city. This
year the winners were announced on 11 June.
The Sustaining Joburg category recognises
how public space has been used to highlight and preserve Joburg's heritage. It
also looks at projects that support the City's environmental initiatives.
In the beginning of the 21st century, Main Street,
historically one of Joburg's most important streets as it is a living link to
its mining origins, was deteriorating. This alarmed property owners in the area,
who wanted to preserve its history and heritage.
Section 21 company
Together they decided to invest in resuscitating the area and established a
section 21 company, Main Street Mall, to undertake the work.
Improvements began in 2004, and a stretch
of the street was turned over to pedestrians. Now this award-winning pedestrian
mall has infrastructure that highlights the city's past and creates a safe and
sustainable commercial environment.
Throngs of people walk among its trees or sit
at pavement cafés; plants and gardens are well maintained. A full-time cleaning
company, appointed by Main Street Mall, keeps the area clean; helpful security
guards ensure safety.
A living link to the past
Main Street has
always been home to mining company headquarters, such as Anglo Platinum, Anglo
Gold, Goldfields and BHP Billiton, as well as the Chamber of Mines. With this
in mind, street art includes a replica of the Mapungubwe Rhino while a stamp
mill and mining headgear are also installed along the stretch.
The iconic gold rhino of Mapungubwe, South Africa's
first kingdom, dates back 800 years. The original is housed in a museum on the University of Pretoria
campus, while the Mapungubwe site - now a World Heritage site - is within the Mapungubwe National Park
in Limpopo province. The metre-long golden fibre-glass replica is
on a plinth in the mining precinct, to serve as a reminder of the city's
gold-mining history - and of Mapungubwe,
South Africa's
first "city of gold".
Special character
These items add to "the special character which we set out to create", says Hans
Jooste, from the Johannesburg Inner City Business Coalition.
Mining artefacts and equipment were placed
strategically along Main Street Mall to emphasise the mining theme, he
explains. The "Mapungubwe Rhino statue was placed with a story board depicting
the history of the first gold mining in South Africa".
Development of the strip has brought
opportunities to surrounding businesses. Besides the mining companies, the
street boasts craft markets, restaurants and public space oriented businesses.
"What set Main Street Mall apart is the
fact that they managed to use a public space, develop it and make it accessible
to everyone. They took elements of the mining heritage and portrayed these in
such a way that everyone relates," says Joan Millan, from the Halala Joburg
Awards management team.
"Main Street Mall has created an
accessible, tangible heritage experience that highlights the participation of
all South Africans in the history of gold mining," she adds.
According to Jooste, "the most successful
achievement has been that every sector of the population is able to find
something which appeals to their interest".
Background
In 2000, the street was deserted and the only people seen on it were either
arriving for work or leaving for the day.
An exciting, clean and safe environment
The Main Street Mall company was set up and
funded by property owners, who also committed to paying a monthly levy to
ensure that it was well maintained. The City, through the JDA, also contributed
to the project. It assisted in raising the capital and was involved in planning
and implementation.
"Main Street Mall was formed to create an
exciting, clean, safe and landscaped environment for the owners of and tenants
in the buildings in Main Street," explains Jooste.
"A historical mining theme was adopted to
give recognition to the fact that Main
Street has been the home of many of the leading
mining and commercial companies in the republic."
The development, aimed at benefiting property
owners, small businesses and tenants in the buildings along the street between
Rissik and Mclaren streets, supported the City's urban renewal projects and
city improvement district initiative.
"Main Street Mall is proof of a very
successful exercise and has contributed enormously to the revitalisation of the
Johannesburg inner
city," says Jooste.
It is "the portrayal of the core of Johannesburg", Millan
explains.
The City has entered a lease agreement with
Main Street Mall to ensure that the area is well maintained and continues to
grow for the next 45 years.
Two projects out of five nominations won in
the Halala Joburg Awards' Sustaining Joburg category - Main Street Mall and
eKhaya Neighbourhood Improvement Programme in Hillbrow.
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