It's 162 years young and looks all set to be the life of the party in its renovated and lit-up avatar in Ranchi on Thursday.

Audrey House is ready to greet President Pranab Mukherjee, who will inaugurate the restored colonial building and a modern art gallery complex on its premises on Saturday evening. Named Audrey House Art Gallery and spread over 7,000sqft, the hub is on the lines of Delhi's famed India Habitat Centre.

Starting with its debut solo exhibition of Ranchi's well-known painter Haren Thakur, the gallery will also showcase around 70 paintings and sculptures handpicked by a three-member team of curators.

Apart from the gallery, the restored Audrey House will boast a library, conference hall, two auditoriums, an open-air theatre, a documentation centre, a hall to exhibit facets of tribal life and a museum.

However, the Congress has objected to the name, reminding people that in 2013 it had been named Indira Gandhi Sanskritik Kala Kendra. "The Raghubar Das-led BJP government under a conspiracy has renamed it Audrey House Art Gallery as part of this trend of renaming everything named after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi," fumed Congress general secretary Alok Dubey.

Built in 1854 by then deputy commissioner of Chotanagpur Captain Hannyington, Audrey House was used as a part of the governor's secretariat and as offices of some departments when Ranchi was the summer capital of undivided Bihar. Thereafter, it rotted in neglect for a long time before its second spring in 2016.

Picture by Prashant Mitra