Expanded Motivation
There are 4 buildings or historical significance at the stated address that are in significant state of disrepair. These buildings are an eyesore for the local community and a security risk for the town attracting vagrants and petty crime. The intention is to repair the buildings to a state of basic functionality. The buildings are:
1. The Billiard Room (circa 1901)
The Billiard Room was erected in 1901 as a recreation centre for use by the British troops occupying Lake Chrissie during the Anglo-Boer war. The wood-and-iron structure had been transported by ox-wagon from Tempe in Bloemfontein. A huge billiard table was then put in, and the cement blocks on which the legs of the table rested can still be seen. A stone kitchen was added to the structure in 1944.
The Billiard Room is intended to be a theme pub. .
Jack’s Gin Shop (circa 1882)
John Jack and his partner, August Simmer, came from Durban to Lake Chrissie in 1882. Folklore has it that Jack, a Scot, and Simmer, a German, wore identical garments and looked so much alike that one could not tell them apart until they started talking.
Jack’s Gin Shop is a two-roomed building from which a particularly potent type of gin by the name of “Transvaal Gin” was sold in big black bottles. Some of the bottles were found on site. Gin derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries and had humble beginnings as a herbal medicine. As gin was believed to be a deterrent and also cure for malaria it is no wonder that it was a popular drink at the Goldfields and consumed in great quantities ‘for medicinal reasons’ by especially tourists venturing into the mosquito infested east coast. From Lake Chrissie, travelling east, Jack’s Gin shop was the last opportunity to ‘stock up’.
Jack’s Gin Shop is proposed to be a stockist of craft gins and would host gin tastings by appointment.
3. The John Jack Inn (circa 1882)
John Jack and his partner, August Simmer, came from Durban to Lake Chrissie in 1882. They erected various buildings including stables, a gin depot and a small hotel. The original hotel was a tiny 3-room sandstone building. The original hotel is too small to provide commercially acceptable accommodation and is proposed to be used as a laundry for the linen used at the “new” Inn.
In 1903 a “new” and larger inn was built in wood and iron in front of the small 3-room hotel and named Lake Chrissie Hotel. In its early days, the hotel was the centre of social life in Lake Chrissie and a convenient stop-off for travellers to and from the lowveld, visiting officials and businessmen. Gossipers suggest that it operated as a ‘high-class bordello’ and that the name changed a few times to include “Dumbarton Oaks Hotel” and “Mrs Price’s”.
The Hotel burnt to the ground in 1936 and was only rebuilt in 2012 to as close as possible original specification using period building materials.
The John Jack Inn is now used for bed & breakfast accommodation.
4. The “Stables” art gallery (circa 1882)
John Jack and his partner, August Simmer, came from Durban to Lake Chrissie in 1882. They erected various buildings including stables, a gin depot and a small hotel.
In its early days, the stables was a halting place for the Zeederberg Coach Company who offered their stage coach service over wide areas in Transvaal, Swaziland and Rhodesia. A coach was drawn by six to ten mules and had an average speed of 10km per hour. At each halting place the mules were rested in stables. While the stables of the Lake Chrissie Hotel still stands, it fell into disuse when in 1918 motorised transport took over and the coach service was discontinued.
The stables areproposed to be restored and used as a gallery to exhibit art.
