The June 16 Memorial and Youth Institute is among the June 16 Trail projects aimed at identifying and recognising contributions of the struggle of veterans in their communities and encourage youth development programmes.
The Department of Infrastructure Development in partnership with City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality, June 16 Foundation and the community of Jabavu became part of the June 16 Trail to ensure that government objectives are met.
The site will be the principal stop along June 16 Trail and will be the central attraction in the first of the four precincts along the trail.
Community members will be allowed to access the site and relax in the park since this is a community project.
The exhibition centre provides an overview of the trail and marks other sites of significance as well as the other routes along which students marched. This site is thus a good starting point of any tour of Soweto. It is also a strong narrative starting point for the trail with the Hector Pieterson Museum serving as the last stop on the trail.
Project Scope
The project has a shape of an AK 47 and consists of the following sections: Main building comprises of the ground above the basement floor.
In the basement we have the male and female ablution blocks with paraplegic toilets facilities each, also we have the generator room and the storage room both accessed from the delivery area.
From the parking and the drop off zone at basement level the disabled people go up through the ramp to the ground floor.
At the ground floor we have the observation or viewing platform from which the visitors can view the surrounding scenery.
From the platform you access the computer room complete with the printing and server rooms, female and male toilet facilities complete with paraplegic facilities, two offices complete with staff toilets and kitchen.
At the ground floor we also have the reception area with a merchandise room and storage, the exhibition room, multipurpose and multimedia rooms.
Access to the ground floor from the basement level by able bodied visitors will be by the eastern and western flight of steps.
The ground floor is bordered by extensive paving in the form of concrete slabs, strips of black granite and brick paving.
On the west we have the memorial wall which provides a boundary for the development and public paved walkway.
In closing, the project is currently 80% on construction and thus far 93 beneficiaries have been trained.
For enquiries contact:
Philemon Motshwaedi
Tel: 011 355 5105
Cell: 083 648 6870
E-mail: Philemon.Motshwaedi@gauteng.gov.za
