With no future plans for its development, the demolition of the historic Macassar Beach Pavilion has left residents disappointed, who said there were no new recreational facilities for the beautiful coastline.

Reminiscing on the once-picturesque tourist attraction, residents have taken to social media to share images of it in its former glory, asking why no plans were in place for a similar facility. 

The City’s Problematic Building Unit demolished the pavilion in 2020.

The site had not been operational for 15 years, acquiring financial losses due repairs and construction being defeated by shape-shifting sand dunes on which it was built in 1991.

According to Origins 22 – Genealogy & History, it was built around 1991 and was a public recreation facility with pools, water slides, picnic areas, and food stalls, intended for local families. 

The pavilion faced challenges due to its location within a sensitive dune ecosystem such as shifting sands and strong winds, which needed constant maintenance and by the end of the 1990s, the park saw a decline due to vandalism, neglect, and worsening sand intrusion.

On Tuesday, Independent Newspapers photographer Ayanda Ndamane visited the site where the pavilion once stood, which showcased sand dunes and leftover ruins such as pillars and bricks.

The City’s Deputy Mayor and mayco member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Eddie Andrews, said the building had to be demolished.

“The pavilion was demolished in 2020. There is therefore nothing to be repaired. Seeing as this is in a coastal zone, Council approved that it not be replaced. It now falls under the City’s Biodiversity Management department,” he said.

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The City’s Recreation and Parks Department were  unable to quantify the cost of repairs and upkeep since the facility has not been in use for over 15 years.

“The facility has not been operational for over 15 years,” they said.

They later confirmed that it was part of the Problem Buildings in the City after vandalism and crime overtook it.

Resident and historical activist, Gerome Jasem Vermeulen has been using his social media accounts to create awareness about the site’s once significance and how much they yearned for new developments.

“My biggest fear is that all these images will go to waste and that’s why I did the series on the pavilion on my TikTok account,” he said.

“Just three of the posts got a combined 200k views. It shows how loved and missed this place is.

“It was demolished in total. Every single part of it including the lifesaving clubhouse and the huts.

“Not only the residents, but everyone that visited the pavilion is devastated.

“It all fell under the problematic buildings

“As far as I’m aware I heard of no future plans in terms of Macassar Beach. If there’s anything it is kept hush hush and only the Councilor will be aware.

“Macassar Beach remains one of the pristine beaches with a total lack of facilities.

“It is favoured by fishermen and is a hotspot for kite boarding.”

Community activist, Christian Stewart said their plights as residents for facilities to be upgraded such as the pavilion have been ignored.

“The City of Cape Town failed us.

“They never looked after the site and now we have no facilities like it had for our community.

“People came as far as Kimberley to Durban, it was once a tourist attraction.”

The Cape Argus also approached the ward councillor Peter Helfrich for comment about the pavilion but he referred the newspaper to City officials.

Last month, the City confirmed that they had a total of 922 problem buildings on their list with more than 500 cases that were closed in the past five years and that just over 300 were still actively investigated and prompted for possible closure and declared a problem building or demolition site.

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Cape Argus

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