Restoration of heritage buildings going on in full swing

Work on Calve College and V.O.C. School is in different stages

Restoration work is under way at Calve College, a Grade II A heritage structure in Puducherry. | Photo Credit: S.S. KUMAR

The restoration of the decades-old Calve College Government School and V.O.C. School, the landmarks that occupy a prominent place in the city’s history, has gathered pace.

The work is in different stages. The Puducherry Smart City Development Limited (PSCDL), which has taken up the restoration, has planned to complete the projects by this year-end.

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is the architectural consultant for PSCDL, while Pondicherry Engineering College is the structural consultant.

The work commenced in August last year, and costs ₹7.6 crore.

According to an official, “The work on both buildings includes plastering of ceiling and walls, replacement of the wooden rafters and beams and removal of vegetation. Work is also on to restore the roof built in the ‘Madras Terrace’, an architectural style popular in the city during the early 19th Century.”

The Calve College, a legacy of the French, had been crying for attention when Cyclone Thane struck Puducherry in 2011. The cyclone had caused an extensive damage to the first floor.

A Grade II A heritage structure, the Calve College was among the three schools functioning out of heritage buildings in the city. The other two were V.O. Chidambaram Government Higher Secondary School and the Pensionnate De Jeunes Filles (Government Girls French High School).

The schools were provisionally shut by the government in 2014 after an inspection found that the buildings were “unsafe”. The students were shifted to other government schools.

The Calve College, which was built in 1886, gets its name from Calve Souprayachettiar (Kalavai Subburaya Chettiyar), who belonged to a renowned merchant family. It was opened for the education of local Hindu and Muslim children. The family’s roots are in Kalavai, a village near Vellore.

It functioned as a private school till May 1877 when it was placed under public management. From 1877 to 1880, it was run by members of a congregation. An English section was opened in 1880. After 1885, it was upgraded as an upper primary school and open to children of all castes, according to an INTACH report.

Calve College has churned out political leaders such as V. Subbiah and M.O.H. Farook. It continues to cater to French education for a small group of 110 students from Classes I to 10, apart from students under the State syllabus.

The V.O.C. School, previously known as Ecole Primare, was also built in 1886. It followed the French system of education until 1960 when the medium of instruction changed from French to Tamil.