Eldorado FINALLY gets its park!

No, it’s not Sandton, it’s ELDOS!!

The new flagship park in Eldorado Park
is the biggest in the area, and offers a big screen television, two
soccer pitches and a water feature Eldorado Park finally lives up to
its name, with a lush green space opened for play. It even has a big
screen television where people can gather to watch sport or other
programmes.

WATCHING your favourite sports game
from a park bench may be strange for some, but for many residents in
Eldorado Park extension 3, having an outdoor facility offering
international sport, education, travel and entertainment on their
doorstep, is a welcome gift…AND it is offered free of charge.

On 5 March residents took ownership of
the biggest and best equipped park ever to be developed in their
area. Still to be named, the Kremetart Street Park in Eldorado Park
offers a host of lovely surprises, with two miniature soccer fields,
a big screen television and a bubbling water feature greeting visitors.

The member of the mayoral committee
for environment, Prema Naidoo, and the managing director of City
Parks, Luther Williamson, formally handed over the facility to the
community, urging them to look after it. “Own it jealously,”
Naidoo stressed.

Joburg poured R1-million into
developing the park, while Township TV, in partnership with City
Parks and DSTV, funded the big screen television, which was handed
over at the same time.

The day was a colourful affair as
children from EW Hobbs and Boekenhout primary schools competed in a
soccer match to start proceedings. Parents, grandparents, teenagers,
toddlers and even the wheelchair bound flocked to the park to join in
the celebrations.

Later in the afternoon the big screen
was turned on to broadcast the live game between Sundowns and Golden
Arrows. People settled on the green grass to enjoy their favourite
game, and in the evening the Kaizer Chiefs and Platinum Stars game
was broadcast.

Over the past few years City Parks has
intensified its efforts to green the more marginalised areas of
Johannesburg. In December 2007, it opened a park in Diepsloot
offering similar facilities. Orange Farm also received a flagship
park in 2007.

Eldorado Park is not known for its
wealth of entertainment facilities and wonderful amenities; it lacks
the social infrastructure so commonplace in the northern suburbs of
Johannesburg. Situated to the southwest of the Johannesburg central
business district, it is predominantly a coloured

township, and one of the poorest. The
community barely holds together, with drug abuse, teenage
pregnancies, unemployment and domestic violence more common than
loose change.

When City Parks earmarked the area for
development, it was a neglected open space, serving as a shortcut
through the suburb. Young people could be seen skulking about in the
long grass, doing their daily drug shopping. For others, it was a
handy spot to get rid of all those unwanted household items and building material that
Pikitup refuses to remove.

But almost overnight it grew into a
place of beauty. Besides the usual green grass and a multitude of
indigenous trees, playground equipment and park benches, the City
brought in additional touches to show its commitment to the wellbeing
of Eldorado Park residents.

A favourite with the youngsters are the
two small soccer pitches. Instead of planting grass on the pitches,
City Parks opted for sand pits as these are cheaper and easier to
maintain. The idea was borrowed from Brazil, where children are
accustomed to playing on the beaches – resulting in strong-legged soccer players.

The water feature is beautiful in its
simplicity and much-loved by the little children, who cannot resist
the lure of the sparkling water. Big steel pipes, bent at 90 degree
angles, spurt thick jets of water on to rocks, and as the days grow
hotter, more and more children are drawn to it, splashing each other
and dipping their heads with delight under the water deluge.

However, the big screen television is
the biggest draw card. Sponsored by Township TV, City Parks and DSTV,
there are daily broadcasts of educational, sport, music and travel
programmes – at no cost to the community. The TV is on from 2pm to
6pm daily and it is protected by 24-hour security. No alcohol is
allowed in the park.

Township TV’s first big screen TV was
erected in Diepsloot Park, again in a partnership with City Parks.
Another such 24-hour park will be created in Diepkloof in March with
similar facilities.

Graeme Joffe, a Township TV
representative and Highveld Stereo sports presenter, was very excited
about the project, especially after seeing the result it had had in
Diepsloot. “Up to 5 000 people turned up to watch the Africa Cup
at the [Diepsloot] park. It was fantastic.”

Planning the Kremetart Street Park was
closely guided by the needs of the community, and local residents
were employed to develop it. It will be renamed as soon as the
community has decided on a suitable name.

“Help us change the landscape of
Eldorado Park to a future of quality parks with tree-lined streets,”
Williamson urged the audience in closing.

The three parks equipped with outdoor
television screens, and others that will be developed later, will be
used as public viewing facilities during the 2010 Fifa World Cup.