When the Kouga Local Municipality awarded The Lookout building to the Paradise Beach Neighbourhood Watch in 2018, the residents and local businesses in the area took it upon themselves to refurbish the centre and have continued to dedicate their time to maintain the building.
Riaan Kolesky, the chairperson of Paradise Beach Neighbourhood Watch (PBNW), said in 2018, the management of the local neighbourhood watch searched for a base to accommodate the needs of the PBNW, which included a place to hold meetings and a centre which could easily be transformed to a trauma centre, in case of an emergency in the area.
In addition, they needed a place for team building events and to host social gatherings for the residents.
When the old Ski Boat Club, which is now known as The Lookout, became available, the neighbourhood watch applied for the building through the ward committee and the municipality awarded the building to the PBNW in 2018.Unfortunately, Kolesky said, the building was not in a good condition, due to the lack of maintenance done by the previous tenants.
“The roof was compromised, the floors were in a poor state and there were cracks in the walls. It was in dire need of paint and crucial repairs,” said Kolesky.Fortunately, the residents and businesses in Paradise Beach got on board and were more than willing to contribute towards the refurbishment of the building by either providing funds, labour, or material.“
During the refurbishment of the building, second-hand kitchen cupboards were donated and fitted for free by a resident, while another resident provided the building with galvanised security doors.
“Local businesses gave time, workers, material, tiles, bricks and a lot of necessary things to save the building,” said Kolesky.
“Smhart security upgraded the alarm and monitoring system.
“It is also important to mention that the municipality came to the party and assisted where possible.”
Kolesky said when the PBNW was awarded the building, they were aware that the upgrade of the building was not on the list of priorities for the municipality, but by joining forces with the municipality, they were able to refurbish the building to its current state.
However, he admitted, the maintenance of the building, which was officially opened in 2019, was an ongoing process.
Apart from regular maintenance, Kolesky said they were hoping to replace the outside canopy and redo the window frames of the building.
“There is currently no need for any new developmental plans for the building because it has met all the needs of the neighbourhood watch for now,” said Kolesky.
