Cuttack, March 4: A year after chief minister Naveen Patnaik and his brother Prem donated Anand Bhavan, the ancestral house of Biju Patnaik at Tulsipur in Cuttack, to the government, work has started to restore it and convert it into a museum-cum-learning centre.
Work on the repair of the heritage building started ahead of the centenary celebrations of the former chief minister to be observed across the state on Saturday.
"We have already started the process of restoring the heritage building, which is in a bad shape. We hope to complete it by August 2017," said collector Nirmal Chandra Mishra.
"The Anand Bhavan will be converted into a museum-cum-learning centre, which will be one of the major tourist attractions of the city," Mishra said.
District administration officials said once the restoration work was complete, a detailed estimate would be submitted to the government for sanction of the funds for the mega project.
Biju Patnaik was fond of reading detective novels and science related articles. All such materials and mementos, furniture and other personal belongings that are lying in Anand Bhavan will be displayed in the museum.
Construction of an extra floor has begun to house the proposed library-cum-learning centre. The ground floor will house personal articles, photographs and other memorabilia.
Biju Patnaik was born on March 5, 1916, at Anand Bhavan built by his father Laxmi Narayan Patnaik. He spent most of his childhood here in Cuttack. His son and present chief minister Naveen Patnaik was also born here.
After the death of their parents, the building became the joint property of Biju Patnaik's three children-Naveen, Prem and their sister Geet Mehta.
The state culture department in 2006 had appealed to Naveen to hand over the house to the government so that it could recommend to the Centre to convert it into a national memorial museum.
The proposal was mooted soon after Biju Patnaik's death in 1997. But the project could not materialise, as the members of Biju babu's family had not handed over the building for the purpose. In January 2015, Naveen and his brother Prem donated the property, including half an acre plot and the 5,000sqft building, to the government.
