The heaps of rubble - containing 21 600 tons of concrete which is all that is left of the infamous Athlone towers - will take 30 days to clear, after which time the future of the empty site will be determined by the City of Cape Town.
Gallery: Athlone towers destroyed
The city has not taken a final decision on what the site will eventually become.
Mayor Dan Plato said there were several proposals on the table, but nothing had been finalised.
"Some proposals call for a mixed-use development, maybe a shopping mall," Plato said.
Several proposals for the site include smaller versions of the V&A Waterfront or Melrose Arch in Johannesburg with 800 to 1 500 residential units, a university campus and a food market similar to the Borough Market in London.
Nico McLachlan, the managing director of ODA, a company that specialises in urban reform, said the redevelopment might be inspired by international developments.
Mclachlan said the site could become similar to the Tate Modern art gallery in London which was built on the site of the former Bankside power station or the Santralistanbul in Turkey, an art, culture and education centre that replaced Istanbul's first power plant.
Earlier Clive Justus, the city's head of utility services, said that with the removal of the towers, eight hectares of land would be available in addition to the 36ha of the power station.
Justus said the turbine buildings could be used as community facilities capable of hosting a jazz festival, coffee shops, restaurants and other amenities.
He said the waste transfer station could be upgraded into a science exploratorium where electricity and recycling could be explained.
A snap survey by the Cape Times found that residents of nearby Langa wanted a graveyard to replace the towers site because of limited burial space in Cape Town. Some people in Athlone said they wanted a mall there or a sports ground.
Robert Ross of Ross Demolition said the rubble from the towers would be taken to a dumpsite where it would be crushed into small pieces to make bricks.
"All the concrete will one day be 10 000 to 20 000 bricks," Ross said.
In the meantime, people who viewed the demolition of the towers had mixed emotions about the event.
Mike Petersen from Retreat said he saw the towers being built when he was young.
"I grew up with them. We have had them for (such) a long time that it hardly crossed my mind that they would be gone. When you guide someone who is driving, you would say to them 'get to the N2 and pass the Athlone Towers' now you have this empty land which represents nothing."
Samantha Marshall from Mitchells Plain said that the experience was exciting and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"The towers will definitely be missed because it was a landmark and could be seen from many areas in Cape Town. I do feel sad that there was no countdown or warning to inform people about the blast. They could have used the cannon as a signal."
- Cape Times
Gallery: Athlone towers destroyed
The city has not taken a final decision on what the site will eventually become.
Mayor Dan Plato said there were several proposals on the table, but nothing had been finalised.
"Some proposals call for a mixed-use development, maybe a shopping mall," Plato said.
Several proposals for the site include smaller versions of the V&A Waterfront or Melrose Arch in Johannesburg with 800 to 1 500 residential units, a university campus and a food market similar to the Borough Market in London.
Nico McLachlan, the managing director of ODA, a company that specialises in urban reform, said the redevelopment might be inspired by international developments.
Mclachlan said the site could become similar to the Tate Modern art gallery in London which was built on the site of the former Bankside power station or the Santralistanbul in Turkey, an art, culture and education centre that replaced Istanbul's first power plant.
Earlier Clive Justus, the city's head of utility services, said that with the removal of the towers, eight hectares of land would be available in addition to the 36ha of the power station.
Justus said the turbine buildings could be used as community facilities capable of hosting a jazz festival, coffee shops, restaurants and other amenities.
He said the waste transfer station could be upgraded into a science exploratorium where electricity and recycling could be explained.
A snap survey by the Cape Times found that residents of nearby Langa wanted a graveyard to replace the towers site because of limited burial space in Cape Town. Some people in Athlone said they wanted a mall there or a sports ground.
Robert Ross of Ross Demolition said the rubble from the towers would be taken to a dumpsite where it would be crushed into small pieces to make bricks.
"All the concrete will one day be 10 000 to 20 000 bricks," Ross said.
In the meantime, people who viewed the demolition of the towers had mixed emotions about the event.
Mike Petersen from Retreat said he saw the towers being built when he was young.
"I grew up with them. We have had them for (such) a long time that it hardly crossed my mind that they would be gone. When you guide someone who is driving, you would say to them 'get to the N2 and pass the Athlone Towers' now you have this empty land which represents nothing."
Samantha Marshall from Mitchells Plain said that the experience was exciting and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"The towers will definitely be missed because it was a landmark and could be seen from many areas in Cape Town. I do feel sad that there was no countdown or warning to inform people about the blast. They could have used the cannon as a signal."
- Cape Times
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