Tours in Cape Town

Posts Tagged ‘Green point Stadium’

The Grand parade as it was with the City hall in the background

As I write this post things are hotting up in Cape Town.  With only 38 days to go till the kick off  of the world cup event Cape Town  is in the process of finishing off some of its major projects and tidying up after completion of others.

The main focus however is at present  in the centre of the city where the Grand Parade is being set up to act as a fan park during the event.

The Grand Parade as it is today with its new brick surface

The parade which has been used as a car park over the past 50 years was badly in need of a facelift and this has happened.  The old tar surface has been lifted and replaced with bricks which match those of the old Cape Town city hall a few metres away.  The parade has gone from an old drab looking area to a nice warm and inviting area. Trees have been planted to green up the area and new lights have been installed.

With effect from the end of April many of the roads around the Grand Parade have been closed to allow for the setting up of the Fan park.  A good thing as the early closure of the roads will get people used to them being closed long before the football event kicks off and so alleviate traffic problems that would have occurred were they closed at the last minute.

The Grand Parade has had many uses  over its lifetime.   Its history begins in the  1650’s when  the Dutch settlers arrived and built the first fort at the Cape on the site.  In 1662 when the Castle of the Cape of Good Hope was built the old fort was demolished.

The open  ground being  outside the new castle’s  side gate  was taken into use  by the Dutch for military exercises and also for the public flogging of  slaves.

Old Drill hall and City Hall on Darling street opposite the Grand Parade

Later it became known as the Grand Parade to differentiate it from the Little Parade  which was situated where Caledon Square is today.

In the early 1800’s auctions started to be held on the Grand Parade on Wednesdays and Saturdays,  a practise that is still in operation today.

For the duration of the football event the stalls and auctions have been banned from Grand Parade and I noticed that they were being held on the lawns of the Castle when I drove past the parade on the 1st of May.

Statue of Queen Victoria in the Parliament Gardens

Over the years many major celebrations  have been  held on the site.  The British celebrated Queen Victoria’s birthday  annually while she was alive  and when the Boer War ended in 1902 the Grand Parade was used for a huge celebration as well.

In 1910 when South Africa became the Union of South Africa  the parade was once again used for an important celebration.

Since 1910 many functions have happened on the parade but none as important as the celebration that marked Nelson Mandela’s  release from prison in 1990.

A couple of small events have seen the Grand Parade in use since 1990 but in 2010 it will be back to its former glory when it becomes the venue for Cape Town’s main Fan park for the world cup event.

The Parade will see 28000 fans packing it to the rafters as the big screens  which are being installed at present show the games to people who want to watch and enjoy the occasion.

Whether the weather will play ball is another question that still has to be answered. The Grand Parade is an open air arena and being the middle of winter could be cold and wet.

Not only is the Grand Parade being set up for the event but also the streets of Cape Town where a fan walk is being laid out for fans to walk from the Grand Parade to the new Cape Town Stadium.

Cape Town Stadium or Green Point Stadium as it will be known for the World Cup

Although the stadium’s name is the Cape Town Stadium it will also  be known as the Green Point Stadium for the duration of the event as Fifa have printed the name Green Point Stadium on all their match tickets.

Fans who use the fan walk will have to be pretty fit as its quite a distance,  from the Grand Parade to the stadium.

With most of the approach roads to the stadium being closed on match days people will have to walk from the city to the stadium or catch some of the BRT buses which will be in operation.

To use the BRT buses you will have to have a ticket for the match.

The Grand Parade is not the only Fan Park being built for the event in Cape Town.

The Bellville Velodrome

There are two others in the city , one being the Athlone stadium which has been enlarged  for the event and the other the Bellville Veledrome which will be the only indoor fanpark in the Cape area.

The authorities are also catering for football fans further afield in the Western Cape with fan parks being set up in Plettenberg Bay and Gansbaai.

While visiting Cape Town during the football event don’t forget to visit our other tourist attractions.

To find out more about tours on offer visit our website by clicking here.

We are ready and waiting your visit!

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The old Green point Stadium

Cape Town’s preparations for the world cup began way back in 2006 when SA won the bid to host the 2010 world cup.

The goals the Western Cape and Cape Town set were simple, yet difficult to achieve.

Goal one: To host an outstanding 2010 FIFA World Cup

Goal two: To use the 2010 Fifa world cup to build infrastructural, social, environmental and economic legacies that will benefit the people of the Western Cape long after the tournament.

Goal three: To leverage the event to market the province, the country and the continent for tourism, trade and investmen

We are now less than 100 days from the kickoff so it might be an idea to have a quick look at what we have achieved.

Breaking ground for the new stadium

Our stadium at the time of starting its construction in March 2007 was known as the new Green Point Stadium. This name has been changed and the stadium will in future be known as the Cape Town Stadium.

Some of the trees that were removed

Land that had been put aside for public use and which was being used by the Metropolitan Golf course at the time was rezoned after some major arguments and delaying tactics by residents and interested parties and eventually the go ahead was given to start with the construction.

At the time two things happened simultaneously. With few people knowing what was going on contractors moved in and started breaking down the old Green Point stadium much to the annoyance of the public.

At the same time the eastern side of the Metropolitan golf course was taken over and the ground leveled. Shortly afterwards the trenches for the foundations were dug and the first concrete was poured.

Things have not always gone smoothly, what with strikes and walkoffs by workers demanding more pay, transport from Cape Town station to the stadium and a whole lot more.

Everybody involved in the project was fearful that it would not be completed especially when original estimates of the cost blossomed out to a total of R2.47 billion, more than double of the original estimated cost.

The construction work on the stadium was completed and handed over to the City of Cape Town in November 2009.

The next step in the life of the new stadium was to test its resources, security and parking facilities and also the new surrounding infrastructure.

To do this a number of events were planned.

The first event happened on the 23rd of January 2010 when a crowd of 20000 football fans entered the stadium to watch a local derby football match. Most people did not attend the event to watch the football but went to get a feel for and a look at the inside of the new stadium which had basically been kept a secret from us locals.

Yes there was the odd picture of the inside of the stadium in the newspapers but as there was a danger to the public during the construction and especially when the roof was being installed people were not allowed into the stadium. Only a lucky few were allowed in. Not even the public who had to pay for a tour were allowed in.

The long wait was worth the frustration it caused as most people who attended the event were thrilled with what they saw. It’s not everyday that one can say that they had attended an inaugural match and the official opening of a new stadium, especially one with the importance that the Cape Town Stadium has.

The first event at the stadium went off well although there were some hitches with parking and parking tickets.

The second event held in the stadium was on the 8th February 2010 when a rugby festival with a 10 a side rugby match featuring some of the retired rugby players of yesteryear was played. The main match of the day between the Stormers and the Boland was enjoyed by the crowd but not necessarily by the Boland who got a good hiding.

There were two things being tested at this event. The pitch and whether it would withstand the hammering caused by two rugby teams scrumming on its newly laid turf. The second aspect was to see whether the stadium could handle a 40000 strong crowd.

There were one or two hitches but overall things went smoothly with the pitch standing up well to the rugby event.

The third test of the stadium will happen this week when an estimated audience of 60000 people will pitch up and give the stadium its final test. At this event all three tiers of the stadium will be opened to the public.

I don’t think there will be any major problems at the stadium itself but there might be some problems with parking and getting all 60000 people to the stadium.

Parking at the stadium is limited so parking for any event will be pushed into the streets of Cape Town and under the freeways at the bottom end of the foreshore.

An exclusion zone limiting or blocking traffic around the stadium will be enforced from the 20th May 2010 till the 16th July 2010 when the world cup will have ended. This could prove painful to residents of the Green Point area as they might not be able to get home on match days.

At this stage of Cape Town’s preparations everyone is happy that the stadium has been completed on time to host the world cup in June.

Another feather in the cap of Cape Town Stadium is that it is fully booked for all its world cup matches where other stadiums around the country are still trying to fill theirs.

Roll on June!

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