After more than a decade of decay, the fate of Nelson Mandela Bay’s Red Location precinct has yet to be decided.
The precinct was shut by the New Brighton community in protest over housing problems in the township, and it has never reopened.
Its troubles soon spiralled, leaving the empty building exposed to large-scale looting.
The precinct houses the Red Location Museum — established in 2006 as a tribute to the struggle against apartheid — a digital library and an art gallery.
Despite countless meetings between the community and political leaders, the deadlock persists.
The latest proposal — to relocate the heritage precinct to Central and repurpose the old site into a community business hub — may seem pragmatic given that restoration costs are set to exceed R53m, more than the original construction bill.
The old Post Office complex in Baakens Street, Central, has been earmarked as a potential site for a proposed new single heritage complex.
The site comprises four linked buildings, including the old magistrate’s court, police station, post office and telephone exchange.
To address New Brighton residents’ service delivery frustrations, the original site would then be converted to promote economic activity in the township.
The relocation proposal was tabled at a sport, recreation, arts and culture standing committee meeting on Tuesday.
But the city must tread carefully with this plan. Heritage cannot simply be uprooted and replanted.
The precinct was not only a cultural centre but also a symbolic site of memory for the township in which it was born.
To remove it risks severing that link.
At the same time, the frustrations of New Brighton residents cannot be ignored.
Their call for tangible benefits such as jobs, housing and economic opportunities is legitimate.
If turning the original museum site into a cultural business hub creates sustainable livelihoods, then the compromise could serve both memory and development.
But this must not come at the expense of erasing the museum’s original purpose.
Properly implemented, such a hub could provide opportunities for artists, businesses and co-operatives, while breathing life into a precinct that has long stood abandoned.
The Herald
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