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LAST Friday marked the official end of the Boet Erasmus Stadium as bulldozers moved in to close the chapter on what used to be the Eastern Cape’s premier spot for rugby matches and even music concerts.
The historic site will make way for future development which could include residential, retail, entertainment, conferencing, tourism activities and even office space.
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic Development, Tourism and Agriculture, Rano Kayser, Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) board chairperson, Mputumi Phil Goduka, and CEO Ashraf Adam were in high spirits as they took the lead at an event held to mark the final push to demolish the old stadium.
Kayser said, “The demolition of the Boet marked the end of an era but also the beginning of a new era.
“The municipality believes the cleaning of this site will pave the way for catalytic and transformative development to take place here. Socioeconomic transformation can only be achieved through innovative spatial development which we are determined to see happen right here on what was an historic rugby ground in this country.”
The Boet Erasmus Stadium became redundant when the city built the new state-of-the-art Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. For many years since then, the city had earmarked the site for an International Convention Centre (ICC) but due to market forces since 2008, this idea could not be realised, and the site stood idle and fell into disrepair.
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