Fairly soon the next Hollywood blockbuster you watch just may have been shot in front of a green screen right here in Cape Town. In what should be good news for the local film industry and Cape Town tourism, Good Hope Centre has been proposed to become a film studio from July.
The downside is that the building, though looking rather derelict as of late (read: 20 years+), plays host to a number of annual events, expos and shows. Most of these events have been non-profit in nature. The City of Cape Town has declared that it would cost R8m–R16m to keep the building in working condition. Hosting non-profit events in a building that has clearly seen better days is just not a sustainable business model, which is why discussions are currently underway to convert the building into a large film studio.
As with most large-scale decisions, especially in Cape Town, nothing is ever really straightforward, and this isn’t the first time that the Centre has been a hot topic for renovation. In 1998, the centre was proposed by the South African Film Finance Corporation to become a film studio and what would have been one of the world’s largest film schools. The proposal was submitted to the City Council and, would you believe it, nothing became of it and the entire plan was shelved. Now nearly 20 years later, we’re still sitting with a musty old building vaguely replicating the old-world charm of the Sydney Opera House but mostly in disrepair.
Will the plans go ahead or is the building just doomed? Hopefully it was named Good Hope for a reason. If all else fails, I would recommend another parkade. Read more here.
Have a good Wednesday!
Cheers
Justin
Photography Jonx Pillemer
CapeTownEtc Good thing, bad thing. Time will tell I guess.
CapeTownEtc thatTallCPTguy #CTNews Glad to see its getting put to use. Looking tatty!
Gaaah! Now they’ll never demolish that monstrosity!
Awfully ugly building
I agree, it was sight for sore eyes
Maybe they will improve the facade?
I can remember going to see international wrestling there (Jan Wilkins,Strongbo bros from USA) . Used to be called NERVI HALL YEARS AGO.
Wesley Schroeder Tooth
It was supposed to be a great architectural coup for apartheid South Africa, being the brainchild of a foreign celebrity architect, but it’s only a copy of an original in, IIRC, Italy.
As a society, we have this toxic conditioning to deep-throat whatever architects choose to ram down our throats, presumably from fear of being artistically ignorant.
In this case, however, even an aircraft hangar that fulfilled the function of the building would have been better.
Film industry is the only income that place gets. we shoot there often, the roof leaks relentlessly. This will be good
Sell by date reached – time to move on
Excellent idea
I think it is a good idea. It is a stunning building going to waste