Mogale Museum gets much-needed facelift
Residents can expect the museum to be reopened after the refurbishments by June.
Did you know that Krugersdorp, or Mogale City, has a museum?
Remnants, artefacts, memorabilia, documents and old photos of Krugersdorp’s rich history, dating as far back as the late 1800s are housed in a somewhat dilapidated building on Commissioner Street in the CBD. In November 2021, the municipality did an oversight of the building and found it collapsing with much of the foundation deteriorating and even some of the pieces of history being damaged.
According to Mogale City Ward 20 councillor Mark Trump, a refurbishment plan was put into Ward 20’s Integrated Development Plan and the public was invited to comment.
With Krugersdorp having been established in 1887, all of the history of the town was placed in the building which used to be the old magistrate’s court and holds a great archive of the culture and history of Krugersdorp. It also has the children’s museum behind the building which housed the clerks of the court.
“We are determined to refurbish the building so it can be safe and continue to showcase our rich and diverse history for all who visit. The state we found the museum in was not something to be proud of, and this refurbishment was seriously needed,” Trump expressed.
Trump added that over R12 million was budgeted for this project and will certainly bring it up to a reasonable standard.
“The old magistrate court is one of the oldest buildings in Krugersdorp, the cornerstone was laid in 1890 by President Paul Kruger. The museum was established in 1993 and opened its doors to the public in 1995,” Trump added.
The refurbishment, once completed, is said to have a range of exhibitions to celebrate Krugersdorp as a whole along with the major events that took place in the city. From the Anglo-Boer War and the history of Chief Mogale to arts and crafts. According to Seeiso Mopeli, the site manager overseeing the project, it is expected that the refurbishment will be completed by June.
“We have 36 workers currently refurbishing the building. The bricks laid here are over 150 years old. It would be easy to demolish the building altogether and modernise it, however, we felt that some of the foundations needed to be preserved so it could have that authentic and vintage look from when it was originally built. Much of the windows and doors removed will not be replaced, instead, they will be polished and put back in place, hence, we are working with specialised engineers and workers who know how to handle the material,” Seeiso said.
The museum will also have various programmes catered for schools such as the Museum Orientation Programme which was established with the sole purpose of promoting the museum and the history of Mogale City. Learners from various schools are invited to join the programme every year from February to April.
The Krugersdorp News visited the site and much work is still to be done. Trump also confirmed that all the museum pieces, artefacts, and artwork have been safely stored in a temperature-controlled specialised warehouse and that the museum staff and curators have taken extreme care in packaging and itemising all items where they will remain once the renovation is complete.
