Rejuvenating Paterson Park
ORANGE GROVE - Paterson Park Recreation Centre and Sports Facility will receive a long-anticipated upgrade with the issue of a Johannesburg Development Agency tender for its development.
Central to Orange Grove and Norwood, the Paterson Park Recreation Centre plays a vital role in local community programmes, but simultaneously plagues residents as a site of vagrancy and occasional crime.
Now, as the development of the Bus Rapid Transit System unfolds along nearby Louis Botha Avenue, the recreation centre will receive its own dose of urban renewal.
The R40 million tender proposes extensive improvements, integrating new and existing facilities according to a precinct development plan. According to the tender document, a new library will be located in the old bowling club house, and updated sports facilities will include a swimming pool and facilities for soccer, tennis, cricket, baseball and volleyball. The currently water-logged site will receive much-needed rehabilitation of storm water culverts and soccer fields, and a new outdoor gym will be provided.
Residents have some time to wait before changes become visible, however. With the tender awarded, a design phase will start and is due to be completed next year. Once designs are finalised and approved, construction will start and is scheduled to finish in 2016. A process of public participation will be adhered to throughout.
While this current development applies only to the recreation centre, further plans may be in the pipeline for Paterson Park. According to Ward 73 councillor Marcelle Ravid, the park itself – with the possible inclusion of the neighbouring Pikitup, Johannesburg Roads Agency and City Parks depots – was due to go on tender for development into residential units, but plans have been put on hold for reassessment. Further developments will depend on the possibility of relocating those depots.
In the meantime, Ravid said she was extremely excited about the proposed development.
“It will give a huge boost to the entire area. Orange Grove residents will have a recreation centre they can be proud of with new facilities not previously available to them. The spin-off into Grant Avenue Norwood will also be positive,” she commented.
