Page 17 - Bulletin 17 2013

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commenced using municipal workmen and according to Mr Howells’ design. It was a

long building standing on legs and straddling the beach berm with its front projecting
below the high water mark. Both wave and wind were able to move beneath it and would

contribute to high maintenance costs. A broad verandah ran right round the building
providing shade and wind shelter. Some 200 dressing rooms were available for ladies and

gentlemen, as well as showers. At its centre a broad staircase ascended to a tea-room with
sun-decks on the sea and mountain sides. It was completed at a cost of £3,641 and opened

on 29 October 1910. It was an instant success and hosted over 80,000 visitors during the

first six months, averaging 1,500 to 2,000 on peak days. (Figs. 1.13 & 1.14.)

Council was urged to increase the accommodation and this was done by William

Delbridge in 1911 by adding a wing at each end. This increased its size by one-third to
100 m long and 20 m wide, added 80 cubicles to the existing 180, and provided a larger

tea-room. The nearby sands were grassed, a children’s playground laid out, and a
bandstand was built. The CPPA desired also a promenade but this would only materialise

many years later.

On Saturday 16 December 1911 the enlarged pavilion, capable of accommodating 3,000

bathers a day, was opened by Sir Frederic de Waal, Administrator of the Cape Province.
One hundred bathing boxes in neat rows, and built to a strict design, eventually replaced

the former mixed designs and random distributions along the beach berm. These were
hired out or sold to users. (Figs. 1.15 – 1.20.) By this time a variety of large hotels had

come to dominate the local skyline: Alexandra on the beach, Muizenberg, Ocean View,
Grand, Marine, Bay View and Park. Many of them were just a stone’s throw from both

beach and rail station.

Befitting its new status as the ‘Brighton of South Africa’ construction soon began on a

grand new station building to replace the modest 30 year-old one. It, too, was well-

positioned being right on the beach a few hundred yards from the pavilion. It was
Edwardian in style with red brick walls and dressed stone from local quarries for the

plinths and mullions. It was designed by architects Tully and Waters and built by