The day after Rabindranath Tagore’s birth anniversary, the residents of Action Area II got a gift from the New Town Kolkata Development Authority — a community centre.
The three-storeyed building on Street 651 in Action Area IIB, close to Akankha housing complex, was in the making since early 2020. Another community centre with a similar design was inaugurated in November in Action Area I, near the Biswa Bangla Gate.
“Like the first one, this building can be hired for social events. We are already getting enquiries. The manager at the community centre in Action Area 1 will take bookings for this as well,” said NKDA chairman Debashis Sen.
NKDA chief executive officer Animesh Bhattacharya shared the booking fee structure. “The first floor banquet of 6,000sq ft space with two furnished rooms, toilet and kitchen costs Rs 60,000 for the day. The rooftop with kitchen and toilet costs Rs 45,000. The ground floor with the lawn will be let out for Rs 35,000. There is no kitchen here, so if required, one has to arrange for cooked food,” he said.
The new community centre in Action Area II
The facade has a giant Jamini Roy style painting with graphic wall fins. “We tried to make the architecture welcoming. In the ground floor, the oval public space that opens out to the lawn is defined by a curved wall that is extruded from the cuboid form of the building. It forms a screen to the ancillary space behind with two rooms and can also function as the backstage for performances,” said Ayan Sen, the architect who has designed both the community centres after acing a contest.
The 20,000sq ft lush lawn, helmed by flowering hedges, has a raised platform with a backdrop featuring local cultural motifs.
The centre was inaugurated on Tuesday by urban development minister Firhad Hakim. “Calcutta is an unplanned city with little space to do anything new. Ten years later, there will be no space in New Town too. But now that the township is being built, you can see how one landmark after another is being added here,” said Hakim.
