Cape Town: Environment and Heritage Resources Information Centre (EHRIC) of the City of Cape Town has expanded its collection to include more material related to the history and development of the city.
EHRIC and the Western Cape Government hold the original history maps of the Cape Town along with the building plans, property records, newspaper articles and reports.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Corporate Services – Alderman Theresa Uys visited the centre on Monday, October 07, 2024 which is located on the fifth and ninth floors of 44 Wale Street where she was shown invaluable City maps and documents.
The Historical Map Collection of the City of Cape Town is maintained and developed as a function of the Metro Heritage Office of the Environmental Management Department. The collection is housed at the 44 Wale Street offices in the Environmental and Heritage Resources Information Centre (EHRIC).
EHRIC was established from the disbanded old municipal references library for the purpose of giving access to records and facilitate good heritage management.
It was founded in the year 2010 and since then EHRIC has grown a lot and include critical resources too. These resources include a map series which is a combined work of William Barclay Snow, Alexander Wilson and Walter Thom.
Historical Mayoral Minutes and Agendas from 1890, Official Planning Reports, Historical Photographs and Glass negatives of the City, Newspaper clippings of interest to the City that date backs to 1862, Historical Property records, Copies of old Building Plans and Gazettes (also early newspapers) from the year 1809, are also included as resources.
According to Uys, the City of Cape Town’s Historical Map Collection is a very sensitive and valuable source of information. They need to look after it carefully and the acquisition of the ninth-floor strongroom enables the curation of the documents in an environment which is safe and appropriate.
The maps were spread over five rooms in the past and now all of them are in one room which is secure, clean, dust free and has block out blinds. The next big step is the restoration and digitization of the priceless maps, plans and heritage documents.
Alderman Theresa Uys stated that these resources are truly rare gems, they cannot be found anywhere else in the world and must be protected to ensure that future generations can access them.