It was on December 17, 1883, that Sir Ananda Gajapathi Row, the Maharajah of Vizianagaram, laid the foundation for the red brick Victoria Public Hall next to the Ripon Building on Poonamallee High Road. The building that came up on 3.14 acres of leased land took five years to complete. Designed by architect Robert Chisholm, the Victoria Public Hall was built by Namperumal Chetty to commemorate the golden jubilee of the reign of Empress Queen Victoria. Its origin can be traced to a meeting of leading citizens in March 1882 at the Pachaiyappa’s Hall at George Town. The meeting decided to construct a town hall. A sum of ₹16,425 was mobilised from around 30 persons, who attended the meeting, and a trust was formed for the project.
First-ever cinema show
After the G+1 structure was opened to the public, innumerable plays and shows were staged here and among them was the city’s first-ever cinema show. T. Stevenson, proprietor of the Madras Photographic Store, played 10 short films at that time. Sankaradoss Swamigal and Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar, the pioneers of Tamil theatre, staged their plays in the hall. National leaders, including Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, addressed meetings here. However, for the past several decades, the hall has ceased to host such events and has been renovated several times. Efforts were made to restore the building at the initiative of Chief Minister C.N. Annadurai in October 1967.
In 1993, when industrialist Suresh Krishna was the Sheriff of Madras and an ex officio Trustee of the Victoria Public Hall Trust, he took steps to renovate parts of the building. Till April 2009, when the Chennai Corporation took control of the hall, it was used by a couple of private organisations, and ultimately it became run down. When this reporter was given a tour of the hall at that time, glass bottles, torn clothes, plastic waste and rubbish were lying all around. The flooring was rotting and the stairs were hardly usable.
A hotel and 32 shops that were taking up space without paying lease amounts were demolished. This allowed the building to breathe and be seen from outside. One round of renovation was taken up: broken rafters were changed under the supervision of heritage and structural experts. However, after Metro Rail work was taken up, the structure still needed support and had to be restored.
The Victoria Public Hall, an example of Indo-Saracenic architecture, is a rectangular structure. It has two halls, one each on the ground and first floors. These together can seat around 1,200 persons at a time. The hall on the first floor has arcaded verandas along the northern and southern sides, supported on sleek Corinthian columns. The building measures 48 metres in length and 24 metres in width and the height of the main roof is 19 metres. The total height of the tower is 34 metres.
The Chennai Corporation has begun work, under Singara Chennai 2.0, to conserve, revitalise and seismically retrofit the hall, which falls under ward 58 of Zone 5. According to Commissioner J. Radhakrishnan, the project includes restoration of the entire roof, wooden flooring and stairs and upgrade of the building services. Lighting and landscaping will also be done. The ground floor will be used as a museum and will house administrative offices. The first floor will be used as a cultural venue with VIP and executive spaces. This project has been taken up at a cost of ₹32.62 crore based on the 2022-23 schedule of rates. The contract period is 24 months, he says.
