The downed shutters of Sky Room, on Park Street, may reopen by next Poila Baisakh. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Sky Room is planning to serve it up again ? prawn cocktail, minestrone soup and all.

What used to be the city?s most-loved continental cuisine stop is set to reopen its doors in a year, around Poila Baisakh time. The Park Street landmark has remained shut for over a decade, following labour trouble.

Part of the restoration and adaptive-reuse initiative undertaken on the 95-year-old Park Mansions by the Apeejay Surrendra Group, the eatery could return with its table count tripled.

?Yes, we will surely revive Sky Room, since it has such a strong brand recall even now,? Jit Paul, adviser to the group, told Metro.

?However, to be commercially viable in today?s high-cost scenario, the eatery has to be much bigger than it used to be. We are looking at 150 covers and the place will most likely be managed by The Park Hotels,? he added.

With large sections of the old structure having been freed by paying off tenants, there are plans to expand either horizontally or ?go up? to accommodate the extra covers being planned for the new-look Sky Room.

The reopened restaurant will also have its dedicated parking space at the sunken parking lot in the revamped Park Mansions, plus valet service linked to the Rawdon Street Parkomat.

?We want to create a destination that will give Park Street another landmark,? stressed Paul.

Paul is the brain behind the revival scheme for Park Mansions, being anchored by architect Dulal Mukherjee.

Constructed by Armenian jute merchant Thaddeus Mesrope Thaddeus in 1910, Park Mansions was acquired by Paul from estate managers Talbot and Company.

Besides Sky Room, it housed the French cultural centre premises Alliance Francaise, Bombay Photo and Rajniklal. While Alliance was ravaged by a fire, Sky Room, which had its interiors done by German expert Messerschmidt and borrowed the food format from Mocambo across the road ?lock, stock and barrel?, downed shutters in the early 1990s.

Architect Mukherjee plans to use deconstruction architecture to ?create a feel of unlimited space with a strong pedestrian axis? through a blend of hard and soft landscaping at Park Mansions.

?The second and third floors of the restored building will house a heritage hotel or service apartments, and we plan to do boutique retail on the first floor,? said Paul.

The group, which also runs T3 ? The Tea Table at Park Mansions, plans to retain the quaint, old Flury?s-style place and add to its munch menu as well. ?We are looking at the possibility of pushing back closing time till 10 pm to begin with, to give people the option of a late-evening sip and bite,? smiled Paul.