Chrissie and Bob Reinecke restored their house, Mossiehof, back to its original form after a fire demolished it in 2011. Photos: Neil Curry
AT the Annual General Meeting of the Calitzdorp Museum Association, held in Calitzdorp last Thursday evening (11 August), the Museum Association presented their Heritage Building Award to three property owners who are helping to preserve Calitzdorp’s building heritage by their sensitive restoration of buildings that they own.
The awards, in the form of a plaque, will be displayed on the restored buildings and are aimed at drawing attention to the important role that buildings play in preserving the history of the town by making it attractive to townsfolk and tourists.
This year’s winners are Ampie Rousseau – for the restoration of the well-known Tristan de Cunha house in Andries Pretorius Street; Paul Boshoff – who accepted the award on behalf of his son, Alexis, for the restoration of their house at the northern end of Calitz Street (opposite Buitekant Street); and Bob and Chrissie Reineke for their sensitive rebuilding of Mossiehof on the Wes-oewer Road, which they bought after it had been largely destroyed by fire in 2011.
The Heritage Award was initiated by the Museum in 2021, and will be awarded annually by the committee of the Calitzdorp Museum in collaboration with people who are recognised as experts on heritage and organisations such as the Simon van der Stel Foundation.
Last year Natie de Swardt, chairman of the Cape branch of the Simon van der Stel Foundation, presented the first five awards. This year the presentations were done on the Museum’s behalf by John Burrows, a new resident of Calitzdorp. John and his wife Sandie are well-known botanists, with Sandie also a botanical illustrator, and together they have published four coffee-table books on the trees and plants of Southern Africa.
John also did a presentation on the cactus family – an invader species in South Africa, particularly in the Klein Karoo.