The 153-year-old Watson’s Esplanade Hotel or Esplanade Mansion, one of the earliest surviving cast-iron framed building in the world, may soon undergo restoration after the building owner informed the Bombay High Court on Thursday that he, along with 146 bona fide tenants, will receive ₹50 crore to restore the structure.
Earlier, the Maharashtra government had expressed its inability to acquire the building for nearly ₹3,200 crore.
The owner also submitted that a plan will be formulated on the disbursement of the amount (the funding details were submitted in a confidential envelope to the court) and be given to the HC in two weeks. A Division Bench of Justices S.J. Kathawalla and R.I. Chagla told the landlord not to start repairs or to refurbish the structure before submitting the plan.
Appearing for the landlord, advocate Chirag Balsara submitted the confidential letter to the Bench bearing the proposal from the owner and tenants and said, “We are eager to undertake the restoration, and will do the work on our own.”
The Bench then suggested that the work be done under the supervision of an expert, to which the landlord said, “If the court so desires, we will not have any problem in an expert coming on board.”
Senior advocate Janak Dwarkadas, appearing for Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), brought to the court’s notice a hoarding on the building which the court directed to be removed. The court also added that if any tenant had objections they would have to serve an advance notice of 15 days before coming to the court.
Earlier, the High Court had directed the landlord to submit the cost estimates for the conservation and restoration of the building by February 20 after it found discrepancies in the list submitted by experts.
One expert submitted an estimate of ₹23 crore while a second one said that it would cost ₹98 crore for the conservation and restoration of the building.
