Work to renovate an 108-year-old building at Payyannur, here, to develop it into a heritage museum featuring the region’s legacy of the freedom movement, has got embroiled in a row with conservation activists alleging that adequate care has not been applied in the execution of the plan to revamp the structure.
The structure, now known as the Old Police Station building, which was earlier proposed to be demolished for construction of a mini civil station, was declared a heritage building under the Kerala Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites Act, 1968.
Though the office of the Registration Department still occupies a portion of the building, the works for conserving the structure and turning it into a museum have now been stalled in the wake of objections raised by conservation activists alleging that conservation norms were not complied with in the works awarded to a contractor.
“Conservation works should be done with utmost care under the supervision of a conservation architect and Archaeological Department officials,” said V. Jayarajan, regional convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, who was in the forefront of the campaign to save the structure from being demolished for building a mini civil station.
Urging the Department to intervene urgently, he said that the heritage value and the history of the structure would be lost.
Payyannur Poura Samithi president K.V. Sasidharan Nambiar, conservation activists K.V. Radhakrishnan and E. Unnikrishnan also called for adhering to conservation norms while renovating the building.
According to conservation activists, the removal of the old roof tiles during the rainy season would further damage the heritage building.
Conservation officials of the Archaeology Department, however, said that the works were awarded to a contractor having experience in conservation activities.
Denying that the works caused destruction of the old roof tiles, they said that the tiles were removed to reinstall after replacing the already broken tiles. Otherwise there would be leakages which would render the ₹90 lakh renovation works useless. The 11 wooden pillars inside the structure are all heavily worn out and have to be replaced, they said adding that the building has materials that are naturally damaged which have to be replaced.
The row has hit the works as the formal inauguration of the commencement of the renovation activities were scheduled on October 21.
The conservation plan is to renovate the unoccupied portion of the building in the first phase. As and when the Registration Office is shifted, the whole building will be converted into a full-fledged museum featuring Payyannur’s history during the freedom struggle, Salt Satyagraha and showcasing history of the Payyannur khadi production.
