Renovation work underway at Bankipore Club on Wednesday. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Bankipore Club, aged 147, is set to get a brand new look.

A new banquet hall is being developed at the club. Work for a modernised front façade, marble tiles on the lawn and a pavement on the parking area have also begun.

The heritage dance floor, where many renowned persons and bureaucrats had a gala time, would remain untouched.

“We are developing the infrastructure while several parts of the club are being renovated. These include renovation of the existing façades by covering them with modern cladding material, including glasses, and construction of pavements at the parking area. All such works are expected to be compete within two weeks,” Om Prakash, the treasurer of the club, told The Telegraph.

With an exquisite riverbank location, Bankipore Club was to Patna what the Bengal Club was to Calcutta. It had a tennis court and a swimming pool, rarely seen in other clubs across the country during the British rule.

Established on the banks of Ganga in 1865, Bankipore Club was an exclusive European club. Entry to the club was restricted to senior officers, including Indian Civil Services and Imperial Police. Junior European (read British) officers were not allowed to enter the club. They later set up the Victoria Jubilee Club, located diagonally opposite to Patna Civil Court.

From 1924, entry to the club was relaxed and senior officers from Indian Medical Services, Indian Educational Services and Indian Engineering Services were allowed inside.

Post-Independence, especially after the 1960s, common people slowly started getting entry to the club.

Club members are upbeat with the renovation work.

“The ambience at Bankipore Club is unparalleled. Even when Sunil Gavaskar visited Patna for a charity match few months before a 1996 World Cup match at Moin-ul-Haq Stadium, he said he had not seen any club in the country with such a beautiful location. Even today, a visit to the club is a very soothing experience,” said Sachin Chandra, a member of the club.

Club authorities, however, were concerned with the encroachment issue. “Even though it is a living heritage, the encroachment by slum dwellers around the entrance has stolen a lot of its charm. We have approached the administration in this regard but nothing has been done,” said Nikesh Sharma, a third-generation member and one of the directors of the club.