Sir Puttanna Chetty Town Hall, one of the heritage buildings in the city, is once again set to get a facelift.
The renovation will be carried out over the next three months, following which it will be reopened for public use. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, which owns and maintains the iconic landmark, had been flooded with complaints of broken seats, poor stage, lack of ventilation, bad sound and light system and lack of basic amenities, such as clean toilets and drinking water.
The work began with a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday. Mayor B.S. Sathyanarayana reiterated that despite the civic body’s poor financial condition, it would not pledge the landmark at any cost.
“Though the renovation was proposed in 2010–11, it was not taken up till now. It is after several failed attempts that the work has finally commenced,” he said.
The BBMP’s Standing Committee for Ward-Level Works, in May 2014, approved the proposal to give a facelift to Town Hall. The work is being taken up at a cost of Rs. 5 crore.
Committee chairperson A.H. Basavaraju told The Hindu that the 78-year-old building has not been renovated for 23 years.
“While the external façade will remain untouched, renovations will not affect the integrity of the building. We have not accepted any bookings until October,” he said and added that the progress of work will be assessed every fortnight to ensure that there were no inordinate delays in completion of work.
Deputy Mayor Indira and chairpersons of standing committees were present.
