An artist’s impression of Kolkata Kala Kendra

The city is set to have its first cultural complex of international standards a little more than a year from now.

Officials involved with the Rs 16-crore project said the basic structure will take a year to be built and a few more months will be needed to decorate the interiors before the curtain goes up on Kolkata Kala Kendra at 19A Sarojini Naidu Sarani (Rawdon Street).

“We will finally have a place good enough to host performances by the likes of Pandit Ravi Shankar and Zubin Mehta,” said Dilip Kumar Chakraborty, the principal secretary in the information and cultural affairs department.

“I am not sure how many local groups can afford to hire the facilities.... Our prime target are foreign troupes and we are trying to build the Kendra in a way that will draw them here,” he added.

The project across 10 bighas will include a main auditorium that will seat 1,200 people, a hydraulic stage with a 60-ft opening, computerised light and sound equipment and rehearsal rooms.

There will also be a smaller, multipurpose auditorium that can seat 500 people, a multimedia projection room for 200 people and a lobby that can host non-proscenium performances, a restaurant, a seminar hall, exhibition space and a library, among other facilities.

“There will be ample parking space and we are also planning to introduce rainwater harvesting facilities,” said Amrit Mukhopadhyay, the deputy general manager of Balmer Lawrie that is fabricating the project under PWD’s supervision.

The design has been conceived by architect Kalyan Biswas and engineers are in touch with experts from Jadavpur University and Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, for inputs.

“A pond in the compound will provide a reflective surface for the hall. The proposed structure will only take up 20 per cent of the area,” said Biswas, who has designed over 40 auditoriums and projects like the TCS building in Sector V.

The inspiration, he said, had come from the Natmandirs. “The roofs of Natmandirs are flat but they have these pillars which elsewhere come as arches. I have used the pattern. The surface will be embellished with terracotta tiles that would give glimpses of Bengal’s cultural history.”

The project is being steered by the Kolkata Kala Kendra Society, which includes the chief minister, mayor and representatives of the cultural world.

The project started as a commercial complex and the initial plans (by another architect) involved filling up of a pond. “The idea was scrapped in favour of a cultural complex that would leave the pond undisturbed,” said architect Biswas.

The state pollution control board, reluctant to approve the project as a wetland was involved, gave a no-objection certificate in April 2004.

The final municipal clearance came on October 25, 2007, said an official.