The historic Town Hall located in the heart of Chandni Chowk will be redeveloped as a centre of cultural and social heritage, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation announced on Thursday.
North Delhi Mayor Preety Agarwal said that the Town Hall would be redeveloped as an attractive tourist destination at par with international standards. This will be done under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode for which in-principle approval has been accorded.
Ms. Agarwal said that after the redevelopment, the Hall would emerge as a “centre of culture and social heritage”, depicting the history, culture and the life of Delhi.
“The idea is to make the Town Hall an attraction for tourists at par with international standards. It will provide a wholesome family experience to visitors,” she said.
Tourist attraction
The Mayor added that the complex would have a crafts bazaar, dancing fountain, light and sound programmes, street food, activity area for children, a boutique hotel, food court, courtyard and sculpture garden, digital library, lecture rooms, a museum, fine dining areas, and much more.
Senior officials of the north corporation, meanwhile, said that the museum at the redeveloped Town Hall would be the main tourist attraction. It is expected to occupy an area of about 1,574 square metres on the ground floor.
Commissioner Praveen Gupta added that the project was initially planned to be funded by the Union Tourism Ministry, but that did not materialise. “If all goes well, the project will be taken up in the next nine months and be completed in two years,” said Mr. Gupta.
He also said that the opening of the Town Hall as a public attraction would become a source of revenue for the corporation.
