Legends lived here at one point

CHENNAI: The red building that gave the name to the road that it stands on, the Victoria Students’ Hostel in Chepauk, which is currently in a pitiable state, thanks to a lack of proper maintenance, was once a majestic structure built in the Indo-saracenic style consisting of three floors and facing the Buckingham Canal.According to the information provided by the officials at the Presidency College, students of which now occupy the building, a meeting held on February 10, 1894 in the Victoria Hall resolved to construct the hostel in memory of P Ranganatha Mudaliar, who was a distinguished professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy in the college between 1884 and 1893.A committee headed by the then financial member of the Governor’s Executive Council, HW Bliss, was formed to monitor the work. The committee selected a plot of land in Chepauk near the place where both the Presidency College and the College of Engineering (which was shifted to the current location in Guindy at a later date) functioned. On the basis of the General Order passed on June 26, 1894, a recommendation was made to the Government of British India that land costing an estimated `37,540 be granted in perpetuity for the hostel. The proposal was confirmed on March 6, 1895.Documents revealed that the contractor for the building work was T Namberumal Chetty, who, among other buildings, is also credited with construction of the Government Museum and  Victoria Technical Institute. The inauguration of the original structure, was done by the then Governor of Madras Presidency Sir Arthur Havelock on January 30, 1900.The hostel has housed legendary personalities including politicians such as Vaiko, the General Secretary of MDMK, and current personalities in power in the State such as ministers R Vaithilingam and MC Sampath, and filmmakers such as Singeetham Srinivasa Rao.