The otherwise deserted, labyrinthine alley leading to the 118-year-old Old Town bustled with people as restoration works began on Tuesday morning. Being carried out at a cost of Rs 3.4 crore, the Town Hall project is being executed by Savani Heritage Conservation Pvt. Ltd, under the initiative of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC). It is expected to be completed within the next 18 months.
Built by the Maharaja of Bobbili in 1901, in memory of Queen Victoria, the Town Hall was reduced to a shadow of its former grand self. It was originally called the Victoria Diamond Jubilee Town Hall,and was handed over to the Municipality in 1904.
The severe and rapid dilapidation of the iconic structure was brought to the notice of the GVMC about a year ago when the walls started developing cracks with vegetation growth gnawing the roof and portions of the Mangalore-tiled roof gave away. It was only earlier this year that Mumbai-based Savani Heritage bagged the tender to restore/repair it.
A preliminary visual inspection and assessmentwas carried out by the Savani Heritage team last month. The experts found that the stability of the structure was endangered by the roots of the vegetation that has grown through walls the walls resulting in cracks and mortar loss. The team also found evidence of deformation of the roof in the watchtowers causing seepage of rainwater.
- The Town Hall has been witness to fiery speeches delivered by freedom fighters including Mahatma Gandhi who addressed a gathering here in 1929.
- It also saw eminent personalities such as C Rajagopalachari, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, CV Raman, Rabindranath Tagore and MS Subbulakshmi speak here and perform.
- It is the only surviving building in the district with a massive wooden floor made of Burma Teak.
- While the fierce cyclone Hudhud did not harm it much, human apathy finally got to it
“There has been severe dilapidation. However, our aim is to retain at least 50-60 % of the original material used in the building of the structure when we start with the restoration . A thorough research has been carried out to ensure that there is no alteration to the look and feel of the iconic structure ,” says Sravani Naraparaju, a conservation architect who is working with Savani Heritage.
There is also an old old municipality building adjoining the Town Hall, that dates back to the early 1930s, that will get a facelift at a cost of Rs 5.73 crore. Both the ‘retrofitting of heritage buildings’ projects are being carried out under Smart City Mission of GVMC. “These two buildings are a symbol of the city’s heritage and will be a vital source of tourism. The building is being restored as per the original plan with no additions and put to public use,” says Commissioner of GVMC M Hari Narayanan. Over the past couple of years, history enthusiasts have highlighted the historical relevance of these two structures in the special walks they conduct regularly.
While the restoration is already underway, the challenge has just begun, say the experts. The first floor slab of the old municipality building has been dismantled already. “We will be putting lime plaster and recasting the slab. The greater challenge is restoring the brown granite stonewalls that have weakened with age. Usually copper slag blasting is used to bring back the shine. But since the structure is already weak, we are unable to use it. Instead, we will do pressure washing with water and fill micro-concrete in the gaps,” explains Sravani.
Savani Heritage Conservation has been in the field of restoring heritage structures of India from the past 25 years. “Each building has a specific method of construction peculiar to the time when it was built. We do a thorough research of the architecture before we start the restoration project. One of the main methods is to conduct the petrographic analysis (technique that examines and evaluates the optical properties and micro-structural characteristics of the materials) of the stone. After that we evaluate the method of restoration,” says Ram Savani, director of the firm.
- Don’t try to make any major changes. Retain the original structure as much as possible.
- If any element in the structure needs modification, the colour and texture of the new material used should be slightly different than the original one. This helps people and even future architects to identify that this was added in later years.
- The flooring techniques need to be analysed so that it could be mimicked in restoration.
- Sometimes it is very difficult to get the original material. Atleast appearance-wise the new material used should resemble the original.
The bigger challenge before the conservation architects will be to carry out the restoration work of Town Hall and old municipality building without disturbing the original nature of the buildings and to have a maintenance plan for their upkeep in the future.
“India’s conservation movement is only about 30 to 40 years old. It has come about from activism and is an emerging discipline. While the awareness is growing we are also losing heritage. Stepping up conservation efforts is the only way to protect our rich past. The recent fire at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris should serve as a wake-up call,” says Mayank Kumari Deo, convenor of INTACH - Vizag Chapter.