The Marina da Gama Story

50 years ago, a team from the corporate behemoth Anglo American started the transformation of a virtually uninhabitable sandscape between Prince George Drive and Lakeside into Africa's first marina community – Marina da Gama. To do that required solving three great engineering challenges: taming the wind, managing the water, and building the canal banks. The first phase of the project was achieved through “fanatical planning”, and a team that included two off-duty Los Angeles firefighters, an ecologist and landscape architects. What was built is remarkable – an attractive and thriving waterside community – but only constitutes 65% of the original project scope. Why did Anglo American, and Cape Town, step away from something that might have significantly reshaped the coastline of False Bay?

Hear the answer to this question in an illustrated talk by Patrick McKenna, co-author of 50 Years On: The Marina da Gama Story, at Rhodes Cottage Museum on Sunday 1 November at 3pm. The talk will be illustrated with rare vintage images, advertising materials and construction plans drawn from the Marina's extensive archive.