 Another stalemate was reached. And the demolition date, which had already been set, was fast approaching – 13 November 1978. On 27 October, another meeting with the minister took place.
"The main feature of this lengthy meeting was an impassioned plea from Minister Koornhof for the preservation of Markhams, who appeared to have been influenced by the preservation movement in the United States, mentioning various examples of recycling in Washington in particular," writes Ball.
Foschini responded by saying it would put up R100 000 of the R300 000 needed for the preservation of the facades and the clock tower, suggesting that other parties come up with the remaining R200 000. It was decided to see if the preservation costs could be reduced, while the council was to calculate whether it could adjust its building regulations.
The result was the council agreed to relax the building line to allow for the retention of the facades, and a 40 percent rates reduction if the building was declared a national monument. There was no mention of helping towards the outstanding R200 000, so Foschini rejected this proposal: it was a further stalemate.
Meanwhile, the demolition date came and went. Foschini appealed to Koornhof to help break the stalemate but he was unable to do so. "He closed the discussion by saying that if Foschini were happy that they had done all they could to preserve the building but were not capable of doing so then all reasonable people would understand that the building must be demolished," recounts Ball.
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