A familiar part of Ranchi's landscape, the modest-looking, dilapidated Mahatma Gandhi Town Hall at Kutchery Chowk is now officially being demolished to pave the way for a stunning landmark to be complete by March 2019.
Declared condemned or unfit for use by Ranchi district administration in 2011, the town hall's demolition began three days ago. In its place, the proposed cultural hub Rabindra Bhavan, named after the Nobel Laureate poet and multi-talented visionary and estimated to cost around Rs 156.93 crore, would be a large and stunning edifice, promised project director D.K. Singh of Jharkhand Urban Infrastructure Development Company Limited (JUIDCL).
JUIDCL has been entrusted with the job by the state urban development department, and in its turn, given the work order to Ranchi-based Ram Kripal Singh Construction. The 3.08 acres, where the new building will come up once the old one is razed, is owned by Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC).
The project director said that Singapore-based IK Worldwide with SCP Consultants prepared the detailed project report of the building, "which is expected to be jaw-dropping once it is constructed".
The façade of the building will have a striking architectural design, complete with a knowledge tree made with 150 tonnes of steel.
"You can say that the building will be a meeting point for the arts, architecture, philosophy and wisdom. Very few buildings in the country, like Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, use metal art. But this building will use it," said an official of IK Worldwide who did want to be quoted.
The G+3 building with a carpet area of 13,752sqm will have a nerve centre in its G+3 auditorium. Some 1,500 people would be accommodated in the auditorium equipped with cutting-edge acoustics and lighting systems in a massive structure with G+3 floors, each with floor areas of 2,650sqm, 1,630sqm, 1,960sqm and 1,980sqm. The auditorium will be 25 metres high.
Another major attraction would be the 1,500-seater, 3,300sqm exhibition-cum-convention hall.
"The new building has provisions for a gymnasium, 24 guest rooms, a food court, a library and multiple 150sqm shops. The basement will spread over 10,438sqm area with parking for 300 four-wheelers and 200 two-wheelers. For two-wheelers, we will use the stack parking system, a first in Jharkhand," said an official of the construction company.
Inaugurated in 1975 by then Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra, the structure became weak over the years and its one-storey design was considered old-fashioned.
"People had long been demanding a good art and music centre on the lines of those in metropolitan cities. Hence this multi-purpose building," said Ranchi deputy mayor Sanjeev Vijayvargiya.
As a Ranchiite, what will you miss about the old Town Hall?
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