Member of the Mayoral Committee for Development Planning, Cllr Thapelo Amad and members of the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) board conducted an oversight tour of four priority JDA projects along the Louis Botha Corridor, and in Alexandra, on Thursday, 18 December 2020.
PATERSON PARK MULTI-PURPOSE CENTRE COMPLETED
The first stop of the tour was the modern architecturally designed Paterson Park Sports and Recreation facility, a project which forms part of the City of Johannesburg's strategy to meet this demand for new social infrastructure.
On 09 December, the JDA completed the construction of the Paterson Park Multi-Purpose Centre, which will provide a safe space that facilitates the development of fundamental skills, such as reading and writing, in conjunction with sport, physical activity and health.
A full size soccer field, two smaller five-a-side fields, as well as two tennis courts, a multi-court and a basketball court, with a pavilion, will offer a wider range of new programmes and activities. In addition, the park offers an enclosed multi-functional sports hall and gym.
The facility includes an administrative building, security house and generator to ensure optimal functionality at all times. The creation of adequate, safe and accessible adjacent parking has also been implemented.
ORCHARDS CLINIC DEVELOPMENT REVITALISED
The second stop was in Orange Grove, where the construction of the state-of-the-art primary health care, Orchards Clinic, has been revitalised after the JDA appointed a new contractor, who resumed construction works on site on 21 September 2020.
The clinic, which is in line with the City of Johannesburg 2040 Growth and Development Strategy (GDS), aims to provide primary healthcare facilities in identified areas and produce a high-quality health environment. The clinic will consist of 20 consulting rooms, emergency facilities, antenatal, ARV and TB service once completed.
The clinic, in particular, lies along the Louis Botha Corridor of Freedom, where the City is currently rolling out Rea Vaya BRT related infrastructure, which connects multiple nodes from the inner city to Orange Grove to Alexandra, as well as Sandton.
ALEX SAFEHUB TO GIVE OPPORTUNITIES TO ASPIRING SOCCER PLAYERS
The third stop of the tour was Alexandra in Region E, Ward 91, where the JDA has been undertaking the construction of the Alexandra Safehub - a space where a transversal youth development intervention using football as its base occurs. The project, in partnership with the City of Johannesburg and SAFA Development Agency, involves the upgrade of an existing soccer facility and addition of a building with indoor and outdoor seating.
Most of the JDA's projects in Alexandra focus on community and social infrastructure. The Alex Safe Hub facility will allow for team practices, as well as soccer matches within the greater Alexandra area to be hosted.
The objective of the SAFA Alex Safe Hub is to offer opportunities to young people through football development, and to assist in building football talent development structures in Alexandra. The City facilitated the provision of the land on which the hub is located.
A NEW HOSPICE FOR THE TERMINALLY ILL
The final stop of the tour was the Alexandra Hospice and Rehabilitation Centre, previously known as Banakekeleni Hospice, where, this year, the JDA began the construction of the modernised facility. As the only facility of its kind in the township, the upgrade of Alexandra Hospice and Rehabilitation Centre, a non-profit hospice, will benefit the community by improving and expanding patient access to medical services, and improving the health of residents.
Once completed, the facility will consist of a 48-bed frail care facility, with 12 wards located on the ground floor, dining and recreation areas, professional consultation rooms, administration and offices, a hospice garden and wall of remembrance. The hospice will also feature 16 dedicated parking spaces and a drop off bay, a guardhouse and boom gate access and services store and waste collection area.
The JDA has implemented over 600 projects across all administrative regions of the City in 19 years of operation. In particular, the agency is led by the 2040 strategy's ideals of resilience, liveability and sustainability.
As the implementer of strategic City projects, it is important that the JDA continues to both deepen its efforts as well as catalyse new development that supports the spatial transformation of the City of Johannesburg.
“The City's projects in Transit-oriented Development (TOD) Corridors, such as the developments in Orange Grove, Paterson Park, and Alexandra, have laid a solid foundation for these nodes to not only provide affordable accommodation and transport opportunities, but to catalyse further development and bring about the necessary infrastructure for the benefit of the community," said MMC Amad.
