Current Edition >> Archives Section >> Leading Stories >> 17-30 April 2006

Mega convention centre east of Bloem part of N8 corridor development drive

One of the developmental components included in the drive currently underway for extensive development of the N8 Economic Activity Corridor between Bloemfontein and Thaba Nchu, is a mega convention centre complex on the vacant land between Bloemfontein / Mangaung and the Mandela View - Eden Park residential area.
Although the N8 extends from Bloemfontein through Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu and carries on eastwards to Ladybrand and the Lesotho border, the Mangaung Local Municipality (MLM), has in November 2005, after a tender process, commissioned a N8 Corridor Consortium to investigate and report on the stretch only between the Bloemfontein CBD and Thaba Nchu. It is envisaged that the N8 Corridor would serve as a development spine linking the three urban areas of Bloemfontein, Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu, thus stimulating economic growth and development.
The Corridor Consortium consists of the firms ILISO Consulting, Urban Econ, Makomota FMS, Spatial Solutions and Urban Dynamics.
The planned N8 Corridor is in line with MLM's Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Economic Development Strategy (EDS). The project also enjoys the support of the Free State provincial government, while it was recognized at the Intergovernmental Summit On Infrastructure Development held in Bloemfontein 2-4 November 2005 as an important economic development initiative.
In the current planning process the Corridor Consortium has identified the following developmental nodes along the relevant N8 route : Bloem CBD, Transwerk workshops, Bloem Airport, Bloem and Schoeman Park golf courses, Mandela View / Eden Park residential areas, Bloemdustria, Rustfontein Dam, Botshabelo Industrial Area, Botshabelo CBD, Thaba Nchu CBD and Protea Thaba Nchu Hotel & Maria Maroka Nature Reserve.
Together with this, private entrepreneurs can also make inputs and one of the proposals on the table is a convention centre complex in the same league as the Durban International Convention Centre, the Sandton Convention Centre and the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Already named as the Mangaung International Convention Centre (MICC), the complex is also to comprise of a shopping mall and five-star hotel, all at a project cost of some R1,8 billion.
A spokesperson of the developing company has told the Free State Business Bulletin that an international partner managing some 80 similar convention centres across the world is already on board for the project. According to the spokesperson, the MICC is being planned to compete on equal footing with the other mega centres in the country and is not merely to rely on their overflow. Although the proposed MICC is part and parcel of the N8 planning set-up, it is still awaiting final approval from the Free State provincial government.
The N8 Corridor Consortium has held two stakeholder consultative meetings and is now engaged in compiling the report to be submitted to MLM in June 2006. However, there is still time and opportunity for inputs from businesses, entrepreneurs, NGO's and other institutions – contact person is Mark Peterze at ILISO Consulting at (051) 430 4881, fax (051) 430 4894 or email ilisobloem@iliso.com.