By Max Matavire

Parliament Street is set to become the “entertainment hub” of Port Elizabeth‘s Central area, the project team handling the R21-million upgrade said on Tuesday.

Addressing interested parties – including businessmen, ward councillor Jeremy Davis, Irish property magnate Ken Denton and other stakeholders – at the third meeting of the project, The Matrix town planner Hedwig Crooijmans outlined slight changes to the original plan.

These flowed from comments during earlier meetings, she said, among them being the narrowing of the street, which will be one-way, to create more space for the proposed red-brick pavements.

“We are going to remove the curbing, trees will be planted and modern lighting installed. Pedestrians will walk along the paved sidewalks and there will be coffee shops and restaurants which will put their tables outside for people to sit and enjoy the atmosphere.”

Africoast‘s Venance da Silva said the Rink Street entrance would be closed and vehicles would use Rose Street and Lawrence Street instead.

“We are going to redevelop the street as an entertainment street, eyeing 2010 and beyond,” said Da Silva.

“We must improve the lighting and retain the parking currently available (although nine bays will be lost). We have also identified the residential function in the area as very important.”

The meeting also agreed the entrance to the street should be beautified, with large, clearly marked signs heralding it as Central‘s entertainment street.

Crooijmans said tenders for the work would be put out on Wednesday and would close in three weeks. The contractor is expected to be on site by April, with work expected to be completed in eight months.

Construction will be divided into two phases to avoid traffic chaos, starting with the eastern side. The R21-million upgrade project was initiated by the Mandela Bay Development Agency in line with its mandate of urban renewal.

The MBDA has already embarked on redeveloping Govan Mbeki Avenue, with the first phase already completed.