Orapa House

Sandy Grant | Wednesday March 9, 2016 18:32

 

The first was the decision by the Office of the President NOT to take over the building and the other was the request by Gaositwe Chiepe to be photographed for the 50th anniversary ‘celebrities’ book with Orapa House as background. She made the request because, for her, the building is so remarkable and because she, as the relevant Minister at the time, had the luck to formally open it.

Orapa House is not only remarkable but it must be Gaborone’s most iconic building. To date, however, it has never really belonged to Gaborone because its role as a diamond centre has kept it very separate and very apart. But now there must be a chance that Gaborone can claim it and make it, for the first time, one of its key elements.

But this may not be so easy to do. The government, however, purchased the building at great cost but probably with only the one intention in mind. It may now be reluctant to spend a great deal more cash on converting it but it could also be at a loss to know how else it might be used. It may not be too open to ideas at the moment, therefore, but at the same time, it might be not too opposed were suggestions to be made for its possible future use.

Without having been inside the building – how many non-diamond people have ever done so? - I suggest that it should be left as it is and opened up for the public to see how it once functioned and how and why it was designed in this particular manner.

In other words, it could become an important diamond education centre – significant because the normal practice is to keep diamonds and people as far apart as possible. But more than that, it could become a fantastic heritage mix, an arts and craft centre, an archival photo gallery, and a display centre describing the history and development of Gaborone. What is needed in this kind of unusual situation is a lead team, something akin to the Vision group, which could perhaps form a working partnership with one of the local newspapers to encourage people to come up with their ideas and suggestions and then publicise them.  The idea might appeal to the Botswana Society which seems to be feeling out a new role for itself.