Asiatic Society Library revamps its central hall
The cast iron pillars had been
originally imported from England. SHRINIVAS G SULGE, managing director of Laxmi
Hericon
It is grand to begin with. But the
central hall of Asiatic Society Library — an almost 200year-old Mumbai landmark
— is set to get even grander thanks to some renovation that has been finally
completed after a year of painstaking work. “This is the first time since the
town hall was built that the façade has been renovated,” says Shrinivas G
Sulge, managing director of Laxmi Hericon, the company executing the
restoration work.
The restoration of the
central hall is part of the second phase of the entire project, which began in
2009.
The first phase included the
restoration of the library and the durbar hall.
The central hall, which has
been off limits to the public for the past year — with a makeshift library
built just outside the main building — is expected to open very soon.
The Town Hall, which is 200
feet long and 100 feet deep, has an entrance that is adorned with Ionic
columns. The entire structure was built according to the neo-classical style.
Restoration work on the building’s central hall began in February-March last
year. Everything from the various statues of governors past and
philanthropists, which adorn various nooks and corners of the library have been
restored.
The entire building is being
restored at the cost of Rs9 crore. Historically, this is where the chief minister
hosts high tea on Independence Day every year.
The carvings, ornamental
pillars and capitals that line the hall were all restored. Efforts were taken
to ensure their original look was not lost. This included stripping the paint
off the structures and repainting them with a protective coating. “The cast
iron pillars had been originally imported from England. So we had to make sure
the materials used were as close to the original as possible,” Sulge said.
The restorers tested the
original materials used to build the structure, in a laboratory and tried to
match the contents. Limestone was sourced from quarries in Rajasthan. The
structural timber used, Burma Teak, to make the furniture in the hall as well
as frames for the doors and windows was imported from Myanmar.
The library’s books, which
for years were relegated to aesthetically unappealing stainless steel
cupboards, have now been transferred into hand-carved wooden bookcases The
entire hall is lit with chandeliers, among other ornamental light fittings.
“Earlier, pigeons would fly in and dirty the area. To avoid this, the ceilings
have also been lined with pigeon nets to stop the birds from perching
anywhere,” Sulge said
Laxmi Hericon, which is
undertaking the work, is wellversed in the art of restoration. The firm has
previously worked on restoring parts of Raj Bhavan, Mani Bhavan and is
currently working on restoring Elphinstone College.
According to Sulge, only
onethird of the restoration work of the Town Hall now remains. Now that work on
the central hall has been completed, the next area to be restored will be the
library’s Grand Entrance.
Source | Hindustan Times | 24 January 2017
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan & Co
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