Johannesburg - This weekend, as Joburgers celebrate Heritage Day, there is growing concern over two unprotected historical City landmarks that face neglect and possible destruction.
According to the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation, the Central Fire station in Marshalltown has been occupied by vagrants, who are now stripping and vandalising the property.
“It's a beautifully built structure, and to know that it has been invaded, it is just unbelievable,” said Flo Bird, the chairperson of the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation.
The fire station on the corner of Kruis and Albert streets has stood for over 90 years and was built during the height of the depression.
Until recently, visitors to the building could still see the brass fireman’s sliding pole.
There were already signs, said Bird, that vandals were stripping the structure for scrap metal.
A couple of blocks away on Rissik Street sits another one-of-a-kind historical building that heritage organisations and experts believe is under threat of being destroyed.
This is the Old Post Office, which is the only surviving civic building from the Transvaal Republic. The one-time tallest building in Joburg was built in 1897 and designed by President Paul Kruger’s architect, Sytze Wierda.
As is the case with the Central Fire Station, vagrants appear to have moved into the building after the City removed security guards from the site.
“So all the money that they spent putting in a new roof, re-doing all the timber windows, and putting in a steel structure all of those things are being stripped by the vagrants living in there,” said Brian McKechnie, a heritage architect and specialist.
This comes 13 years after a fire swept through the building. The fire was believed to have been started by vagrants who were squatting in the building at the time.
Following the blaze, the City of Johannesburg spent tens of millions of rands renovating the building which, according to Bird, was not completed.
But in that time, the building was protected by security guards - until about two months ago.
“It is a disaster, what is the point of owning a heritage building if you demolish it through neglect?” said McKechnie. “It is going to burn down again without a doubt.”
The 125-year-old building has had a troubled past as different political administrations have come and gone. For decades, it has remained vacant.
As early as the 1980s there were concerns that the building would fall into neglect.
In the late 1990s there was a suggestion that the building be taken over by the office of the premier.
The Johannesburg Heritage Foundation said that they had warned the City of the dangers that the Old Post Office faced.
In response the City said that the Old Post Office would be going for tender in a few weeks, then there would be an update.
For Bird, the Old Post Office could once again become an important fixture in the heart of the City. The building would be the ideal spot for an art gallery.
“And people would come to that, people say there isn’t parking - but look at the art galleries in London, there is no parking there. Imagine what an attraction it would be,” said Bird.