Ahmedabad: In a unique initiative that has been taken to help underprivileged girls, a 150-year-old heritage building in Ahmedabad’s Khamasa is being restored and turned into an innovation centre for them. The over a century-old building was built by a colonial architect and sustained structural damage after the 2011 earthquake, said Sanskriti Panchal, who is an architect working on this restoration project. The restoration is being done by one LxS Foundation in partnership with Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry at an estimated cost of which is Rs 3.2 crores.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Panchal said, “It was a girls’ college but was abandoned following 2001 earthquake. Thus the government was compelled to shift it to a new building. Sanskriti Panchal, who is also Co-Founder of LxS Foundation told that the innovation centre will be completed in the next two years.
“In 2018 we decided to restore the building and approached the state education minister,” she said. Elaborating on the foundation of the project, the architect said that each heritage restoration has to work for people. “One misconception we all have it that heritage is something that we should be proud of our past. However, I think we need to rewind the fact that heritage is something that respects our past and to be proud of our present and future,” she noted.
With a hope to empower girls in the vicinity of the building, she emphasized that the project will greatly benefit the people. “Our core concept is to include the communities. It is essential to do so for conserving the heritage,” she concluded.
(With ANI inputs)