Durban - Today’s picture of old Durban takes in the Amphitheatre and sunken
garden on North Beach and comes from a postcard, probably from the late 1960s, sent to us by Margery Vice of eMkhomazi.
The Amphitheatre was designed by architect William Murray Jones and was constructed in 1934. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the city undertook a number of infrastructure projects to keep people employed and this was one of
them.
The far three buildings seen in
the old picture are still standing
today. The tallest is the Golden Sands and then two beautiful art deco buildings Althea Court and across the road, Cumberland.
The hotels in the foreground have been replaced by the high-rise Elangeni, Maharani and Maluti flats built in the 1970s.
Hotel magnate Sol Kerzner built the Elangeni in 1971, followed by the five-star Maharani. The Maharani changed its name to the Southern Sun North Beach hotel in the 1990s after changes in ownership and was downgraded to four-star status.
In 2012, the two hotels were merged into a single operation to form the Southern Sun Elangeni and Maharani, creating the largest hotel in the southern hemisphere.
The Amphitheatre gardens is a peaceful park in the heart of the
bustling Golden Mile where
people can enjoy the calm of the surrounding pond, fountains, and sub-tropical plants.
The gardens had a make-over as part of the beachfront overhaul for the 2010 World Cup. But as Shelley Kjonstad’s picture today suggests, they could do with some regular maintenance.