Restoration work on heritage premises to begin in February

CMRL completes work; Ripon Buildings’ lawns to be handed over to Corporation

Facelift: Old dilapidated structures will be demolished for restoration and development of a people’s park and the Central Square.

Work on restoration of Ripon Buildings, Victoria Public Hall and footpaths near Chennai Central Square is set to kick-start in February.

Following the completion of the Chennai Metro work, Chennai Corporation and the CMRL officials conducted an inspection of the area to begin work on restoration of the heritage premises.

CMRL will hand over the Ripon Buildings lawn area to the Chennai Corporation in February. “The restoration of the heritage premises will be completed in December,” an official said.

The civic body will begin shifting the statues on the Ripon Building premises for the project. The statue of George Frederick Samvel Marqvess of Ripon (Viceroy of India 1880-1884), after whom the building has been named, will be among the heritage structures to be shifted shortly. Old dilapidated structures on the premises will be demolished for restoration of the heritage premises and development of a people’s park and the Central Square.

Chennai Corporation Commissioner D. Karthikeyan and CMRL Managing Director Pankaj Kumar Bansal inspected the heritage premises and instructed the engineers to include elements of Indo-Saracenic architecture in the metrorail structures, similar to the architecture of the Ripon Buildings.

“The Heritage Conservation Committee has to clear the design of the metrorail structures in the vicinity of Ripon Buildings and Victoria Public Hall,” said an official.

Shifted in 2011

The heritage structures including the statue of George Frederick Samvel Marqvess of Ripon were shifted in 2011 following the approval from the Heritage Conservation Committee of the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.

The shifting was done in consultation with the State Archaeological Department. In 2011, the Chennai Corporation council adopted a resolution permitting temporary relocation of three statues within the Ripon Building campus.

As part of conserving the heritage value of the Ripon Buildings, the ventilator shafts positioned along the western boundary will also get elements of Indo-Saracenic architecture.