In commemoration of the centenary of Zoo Lake, a second blue plaque has been installed.
In December last year, the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation (JHF) and chairperson of the Zoo Lake Users Committee, Fran Haslam welcomed the installation.
According to a board member of the JHF, Kathy Munro, the new plaque, installed on an original giant quartzite rock, gives far greater prominence and visibility to this Johannesburg beauty spot. “The Zoo Lake area has been a much loved and well-used city green lung for over a century and has always been open to all people,” she said.
She added that the inscription on the blue plaque reads as follows:
‘In 1890 Eduard Lippert established a forest, known as the Sachsenwald, on part of the farm Braamfontein. Part of this was given to the people of Johannesburg in 1904 for specific use as a public park and named Herman Eckstein Park after a leading mining pioneer. In 1906 the City Council built a lake on this section, which was marshland. It immediately became a major attraction and has continued, particularly throughout the apartheid years, to be a source of great pleasure to all the people of Johannesburg.’
Munro added, “The Zoo Lake has a long history of serving Johannesburg. It has been an appreciated green lung for generations. It is a park that is a prime amenity for the nearby suburbs of Parkview, Parkwood and Saxonwold but it has never been an exclusive park. It is there for all to enjoy. It is a much-loved place and the Johannesburg equivalent of the great parks of London such as Hyde Park or Paris and its Tuileries Garden.
“In Johannesburg, Zoo Lake is the place of picnics, art in the park, music festivals and public concerts, a children’s playground, fetes and celebrations. There is the annual cycle of Jazz on the Lake and Carols by Candlelight. There is also a Zoo Lake Sports Club and a Zoo Lake Swimming Pool.
“We welcome the new blue plaque and thank the City of Johannesburg for coming to present it. It is a ray of hope for 2022.”
For more information visit The Heritage Portal www.theheritageportal.co.za/plaques
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