NOW that the beautiful old building on the corner of Main and Zeederberg Street has been restored to a much better colour than the horrific blue that it had been tainted, another old building in Paarl has been transformed into a terrible eyesore in Main Street.
I was recently shocked to see that a section of the Oude Paarl Hotel had been painted a shocking orange.
Orange has become very fashionable in the past few years, but mainly in the fashion and interior worlds. But painting a historic building this colour is ridiculous.
There is no way that a building will be allowed to be desecrated in such a way in Franschhoek or Stellenbosch.
One would have thought that our city fathers would have had some by-laws in place to protect our historical heritage from such short-sighted acts.
Save our heritage
Gerhard Meyer, owner of the Oude Paarl Hotel and director of the Cultivaria Festival, replies: The specific section of the building referred to, houses the offices of Cultivaria,which is a creative and art environment, hence the choice of colour - for the very specific reasons which “save our heritage” refers to when referring to the colour orange.
Maybe I am colour blind, but I like it that way. Clearly it is rather a combination of a matter of personal taste as well as a lack of knowledge.
“Save our heritage” should rather concentrate and focus on saving the derelict buildings declared as monuments - the southern section of the Oude Paarl building is certainly not a monument. Currently a very historic house on nearby Church Square is slowly falling derelict, as was the Oude Paarl building before it was renovated
