There can be no ambiguity about the Esplanade Police Station’s origins. A ten-ft high wooden board standing at the station’s entrance announces its foundation year — 1856, the numbers painted in white.
What makes this piece of information pungent is that the red brick building is marked for demolition. In a few months, this simple structure will be levelled to the ground, making way for a modern structure for the police personnel.
At present, the dilapidated single-storey building accommodates three police stations, namely Esplanade (B-2), High Court (B-4) and All-Women High Court police station (W-11) on its ground floor. The office of the Assistant Commissioner of Police (High Court) and the Armed Reserved Wing function on the first floor.
A total of around 400 police personnel, including 120 women, share space in the building, which is around 3,000 sq ft. Cracks in many parts of the building are visible. Suring rains, there is water seepage.
For a few years now, engineers with the Public Works Department (PWD), accompanied by police officers, have been carrying out periodic inspections at the building. A fortnight ago, a team of PWD officials visited the station as part of the preliminary efforts for the construction of a new three-storey building. The space where the Esplanade police station stands belongs to the department.
“We have no objection to a new building coming up at this site. The Tamil Nadu Police Housing Corporation (TNPHC) will be constructing the new building,” said a PWD official.
Police did not divulge details about the demolition, stating that there was no written communication from their higher-ups in this regard. They have, however, confirmed that the demolition will begin once the Chennai Metro Rail work completes work on the Esplanade Road. At present, the Metro Rail has shifted their tunnelling work away from the police station for construction of an underground station. Recently, they also closed the N.S.C. Bose Road between Dr. Ambedkar Government Law College and Bar Council of Tamil Nadu for the tunnelling work.
“One of the factors necessitating the demolition of the building is that the High Court police station (B-4) is located at the building. While functioning from a different building at the High Court, the station was burnt to the ground in a fire accident in 2009,” a police officer from the North Zone said.
As per records, the police station was formed in 1856 and remained near Kuralagam till July 1961 when it was shifted to the existing building on the Madras High Court premises on Esplanade Road.
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- The police station was set up at Kuralagam in 1856. It was shifted to the existing building on the Madras High Court premises on Esplanade Road in July 1961.
- Historians believe that during its initial days, the police station might have been a boundary outpost near the obelisk pillar at Popham’s Broadway for the British forces stationed at Fort St. George.
- Origin of the obelisk pillar can be traced to 1758 when the British defeated the invading French troops and regained control over Madras.
- The pillar was one of the seven erected by the British between Parry Corner and Broadway.
- The British fortified Fort St. George by marking its boundary with seven pillars. Interestingly, two police stations — Esplanade and North Beach — are located at both ends of this boundary.
- The architecture involves red brickwork, arched verandahs and latticed timber screens and a large compound wall with leafy trees for shade.
Some of the police stations from the 1890s that were demolished since 2000 include the ones at Flower Bazaar, Egmore, Pulianthope, Elephant Gate, Chintadripet, Mylapore, Nungambakkam, Tondiarpet and Seven Wells.
