Historic Westville hall on the verge of collapsing

THE Friends of the Palmiet Nature Reserve have voiced their disappointments and concerns about the ongoing delays to the repair of the Frank Farrer Hall at the Palmiet Nature Reserve.

What started with the exposure of the foundations of the hall during the floods has now, because of the delay in reconstruction, led to a substantial corner of the foundation completely splitting away from the building, rendering the hall unsafe to use and at risk of total collapse.

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The reserve committee is made up of a group of elected volunteers who are passionate about the ongoing preservation and use of the Palmiet Nature Reserve.

The committee chairperson, Linda Smith, said this has created a potentially dangerous situation for other residents who live along the riverbank and for the municipal staff who work at the reserve.

“If the hall collapses, it would be an ecological disaster for the Palmiet River and the wildlife in the reserve. This is a situation anyone who loves and uses the Palmiet Nature Reserve would like to avoid.

“The delays have meant that the eThekwini ratepayers now have to pay substantially more to repair the hall, and the community is deprived of a public resource. eThekwini Municipality is urged to make the repair of the hall a priority to prevent its total collapse,” she said.

A concerned resident, Sarah Alsen, said was had to stop the bi-monthly meetings in the hall when she noticed the damage.

“I contacted eThekwini’s Architectural Maintenance Department as I knew about them from previous liaisons with them on a work-related project in Glenwood, as well as the City Engineers Department.”

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She said she first made contact in early July last year and included the head ranger, who has an office next to the hall, as well as the Natural Resources Department and Jean Senogles from Westville Conservancy.

“A site visit with Arch Maintenance took place on August 2 last year, and the urgency of the situation was stressed, with many subsequent email correspondences, to do the underpinning repairs on the corner of the hall before it cracked and got worse . . . which it now has,” said the resident.

Last year, the Highway Mail wrote about the deteriorating condition of this historic hall which is currently closed to the public.

Palmiet Nature Reserve committee member Jean Senogles said they are appealing to the City to do something about the state of the hall which has been neglected for many years. Senogles said she believes that this dire situation could have been prevented if the hall was kept well-maintained.

“The roof is leaking and has led to the floor being damaged. We are no longer allowed to use our hall for our displays for the schools or anyone else because it is so badly neglected by the municipality that it is now a danger to those who would wish to use it,” said the concerned nature lover.

Over the years, the hall has been used to accommodate learners as a number of schools visit the nature reserve. She said the hall was built by Frank Farrer during the apartheid era.

“He built it for domestic workers to use when they were not working – to socialise and be equipped with skills such as reading and writing.”

The eThekwini Municipality did not comment by the time of going to print.

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