Cape Town – The refurbishment of the iconic Muizenberg beach huts has been completed ahead of an expected booming festive tourism season at Cape Town’s most popular beach.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis visited the completed huts on Tuesday, together with Councillor Patricia van der Ross, Mayco Member for Community Services and Health.
The completion of the Muizenberg Huts Refurbishment Project is a partnership with the City which builds on the excellent work done by the Friends of the Muizenberg Huts.
“It was wonderful to see the completed restoration of the Muizenberg Huts today, just in time for what will be a record festive tourism season.
“I must especially thank the Friends of the Muizenberg Huts for their partnership to preserve this proud Cape Town tourism icon.
“As Capetonians, let’s take good care of this special heritage symbol when using the huts. When we take pride in our tourism offering, our city reaps the economic and job creation benefits,” said Hill-Lewis.
The final project phase entailed the refurbishment of 26 double huts and 10 single huts. Construction work started on September 18 and was completed on schedule before the start of the holidays.
The scope of work included:
- The replacement of the ground floor joists, timber bearers, and roof rafters with treated timber.
- The replacement of the sidewall panels and roof covering with Nutec cladding.
- The reconstruction of the timber staircase and the installation of concrete bases for the staircase posts.
- The reconstruction of timber seating benches inside the beach huts.
- The replacement of the timber floor boards and timber doors.
- The replacement of all steel bolted connections with hot-dipped galvanised bolts and plates.
- Wood treatment of all timber members, repainting the side cladding and roof covering.
Van der Ross added: “We are pleased to have completed this second phase of the beach huts refurbishment, on the Muizenberg East Beach Side to the value of R5.9 million, with Surfers Corner Beach Side completed in the previous phase.
“The City appreciates the partnership with Friends of the Muizenberg huts, which is based on a co-operative agreement on the maintenance and management of the huts.
“The friends group also managed to secure a donation of Everite cladding for the refurbishment project,” Van der Ross said.