Potch train station fire: Piece of history gone forever

Videos and photographs showing the Potchefstroom train station being destroyed by a fire this weekend are heartbreaking.

It was Potchefstroom’s first train station connecting the town to Krugersdorp. It was built in 1897, but replaced in 1919 with the Cape-Dutch style station.

Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control in the early hours of yesterday morning, but there’s not much left of the building – an iconic landmark in the North West city.

The fire brings back tragic memories of another fire that ruined a landmark – the Rissik Street Post Office, which was partially destroyed by a fire in 2009, and has only been restored to its former glory this year.

It’s taken many years and millions of rands to get the building, which was hit by vandalism and theft after being vacated by the Post Office in 1996, to this point.

It was originally built in 1897, and declared a National Monument in 1978.

Police are still investigating the cause of the Potch train station fire, but that matters very little now.

It’s sad… tragic.

If nothing else, it’s a timely reminder that nothing lasts forever.

The question now is will it be repaired?

Or will it be knocked down and a new one built in its place with elements of the old?

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