Despite experts from the National Institute of Technology-Calicut (NIT-C) expressing willingness to conduct a technical study on the colonial era building on the premises of St. Joseph’s Anglo-Indian Girls Higher Secondary School, the management continues to maintain its opposition to the Culture Department’s bid to declare it as a protected monument.
According to sources, the proposal for the study was put forward during the course of informal talks between representatives of the management, a group of old students who are batting for the protection of the building, and heritage enthusiasts.
The effort was to find out the feasibility of retaining the building and examine the architectural parameters involved. However, the management is learnt to have backtracked on the proposal.
Meanwhile, historian M.G.S. Narayanan has written to V. Venu, Secretary, Department of Culture, pointing out the need to conserve the few heritage structures remaining in Kozhikode town. Mr. Narayanan said that though Kozhikode could boast a rich heritage, its symbols such as the Hajoor Kacheri, had been demolished.
“It is painful to know that there is a plan to demolish the historically important building connected to Mother Veronica. A native of France, she has a unique place in the history of Kozhikode as the one who set up the first school for girls in Malabar in the 19th century, when education was a dream for the female population,” he said in the letter.
The century-old structure reflecting the grandeur of colonial architecture has a pride of place in Kozhikode. “At a time when modern technology is being used to conserve such buildings, efforts to bring it down in the name of security are condemnable,” Mr. Narayanan said.
Congratulating the Culture Department for proposing to declare it as a protected monument, the historian said that the demolition of the building would be a blot on the image of the Apostolic Carmel, who have rendered yeomen service to society for over a century.
Sources close to the management told The Hindu on Monday that at a time when many age-old government schools were being demolished to make way for new buildings with advanced facilities, there was no point in retaining the structure there.
The management was not taken into confidence before the Culture Department issued the gazette notification proposing to declare the building as a protected monument.
The regional town planner had submitted a report ruling out the antiquity of the building and it was not 100 years old too.
“We have filed an appeal against the Culture Department’s gazette notification. The date of the hearing is yet to be intimated,” Varun Bhaskar, PTA president, said.