WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE VAN RIEBEECK SITE?
For many years, the Van Riebeeck Hotel, situated next to the Post Office, was a landmark in Gordon’s Bay.
The photo, taken by Mike Wannenburg, shows the Van Riebeeck hotel in 1967, which will no doubt bring back many memories for long-time residents and visitors to Gordon’s Bay.
A number of years ago saw much activity taking place there with rumours abounding; it was to be completely renovated; it was to be turned into apartments; there were going to be shops and a restaurant on the ground floor, and so on. None of these rumours came to fruition and inexplicably the building was totally demolished, leaving a rather ugly scar on the landscape.
Over the past few years, permission has been granted for the site to be used as a parking lot from time to time and for the past three years it has also been used as a central site for food stalls and the primary entertainment area for Winter Wonderland.
Now new speculation has emerged that there are plans afoot to build a retirement home on the site, and this is what it could look like. What do you think?