CHENNAI: With the restoration works at the historic Victoria Public Hall located near the Ripon Building moving at a snail’s pace, inauguration of the facility for the public has been delayed by another two months.Speaking to reporters after inspecting the restoration works here last week for the second time in the last two months, Mayor M Subramanian said, “The restoration works of the historic hall is progressing well. All the remaining works would be completed in another 45 days and it would be opened to public in September.” It may be noted that Subramanian, during one of his inspection drives at the facility in May, had announced that the hall would be put into public use by June-end. On his latest inspection this past week, he changed the date and once again announced that the facility is now expected to be inaugurated by September.The historic hall, which played host to a number of eminent personalities, including Swami Vivekananda, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Subramania Bharati and Sardar Vallabbhai Patel who addressed public meetings here in the past, would be opened for public after a gap of about 43 years.The restoration works at the hall is being carried out at an estimated cost of Rs 3.96 crore under grants received from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).About 44 years ago (October 1967), the then Chief Minister CN Annadurai had ordered the renovation of the Victoria Public Hall last time.To provide tourists a peek into the chequered history of Chennai during their visit to the hall, the Chennai Corporation, which manages the building, plans to equip the ground floor with a sound and light show.Besides, the first floor of the wooden floor building would be restored akin to Victorian days and opened for cultural programmes.Representatives from Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), IIT-Madras, Anna University and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) were monitoring the restoration works.Sandwiched between two other illustrious milestones of the city — the historic Ripon Building, now the seat of the city civic body, and the Chennai Central Railway Station — the Victoria Public Hall was designed by renowned architect Robert Fellowes Chisholm and built by Namberumal Chetty between 1888 and 1890.According to official sources, the proposal for such a recreation hall was first debated during a meeting in March 1882 at the Pachaiyappa’s Hall in George Town when some leading citizens of Chennai decided to construct a big hall for the city’s recreational activities.Based on the request, the (Madras) Municipal Corporation leased a 56-ground (3.14 acres) site at the People’s Park for 99 years from April 1, 1886.Sir Ananda Gajapathi Row, the then Maharajah of Vizianagaram, had laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Victoria Public Hall, besides making a hefty donation of Rs 10,000 to commence the construction works.Contributions for the work poured in from different people and the list included the Travancore Maharaja, Mysore Maharaja, Puducottah Raja, Ramnad Raja Bhaskara Setupati, Zamindar of Ettiapuram, Hadji Abdul Batcha Sahib and former Madras High Court Judge Muthuswamy Iyer.
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