The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Acropolis, Mylapore's swanky landmark

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 11, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Acropolis, Mylapore's swanky landmark

R. Sujatha

A new 13-storey IT park opened in city

HI-TECH: IT park replaces `Gemini' House. — PHOTO: S.S.KUMAR

CHENNAI: From an industrialist's home to popular domestic locale in films and TV serials to a swanky IT Park - it has been a long journey in 70 years for `Gemini' House in Mylapore.

Once a beehive of activity, the stately façade of Gemini House on Dr. Radhakrishnan Road inspired awe. It was a landmark that all those who grew up in Chennai still remember vividly. By the end of the century the building had largely fallen silent, with film or television units occasionally using it as a locale.

Stories have been spun about the grandeur of the building, which was called India House and built by industrialist C. Rajam in the 1930s. He sold the house and the money was used to found the Madras Institute of Technology.

Then the building changed hands from the Raja of Sivaganga to filmmaker `Gemini' S.S. Vasan. Then in December 2004 it was demolished and cranes that burrowed deep in the vacuous pit took over.

And then on Saturday, David T. Hopper, U.S. Consul-General, inaugurated a 13-storey building, in the presence of its owner, Amarnath Reddy.

"I pass by this intersection every day, sometimes several times in a day and have been watching this structure with curiosity. With the scaffolding gone now it is a bit like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon," Mr. Hopper said, voicing the thoughts of many Chennaiites.

Growth in software exports

"The IT/ITES [growth] in India is fantastic. In 10 years IT software exports in Tamil Nadu has increased by 1,000 per cent. The United States companies come for the low cost of doing business and for potential access to market. But what gets them to stay is the high quality of talented workers. Foreign companies need security, encouragement from government and visa services." And that is available here in Chennai.

Acropolis, with its spacious lobby and state-of-the art facility, will house IT companies such as Thomson, Oracle and Geo Logistics. In the building's three-tier parking lots, 350 cars and an equal number of two-wheelers can be parked, says Mr. Reddy.

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