RS 45-CR FACELIFT FOR PARK MANSIONS
Subhro Niyogi

Times of India
22 Sep 2008, 0524 hrs IST
India

KOLKATA: Park Mansions, the nearly century-old grand building at
the intersection of Park Street and Free School Street, is getting
a major makeover. The Apeejay Surendra Group that owns the building
is renovating it and hopes to complete the ambitious project by 2010
to coincide with the building’s, as well as the group’s, centenary.

The Rs 45-crore project undertaken by the proprietor of Apeejay
Surendra group include reversing the aging effect of the building,
correcting the stress imbalance caused by a fire in the early 1990s,
creating a two-level parking facility in the compound and a Louvre-type
steel & glass destination zone above the parking lot.

"The most ambitious part of the project is to utilize the central
courtyard of the U-shaped building to create a two-level underground
car-park and a contemporary space on the surface. The plan is to
utilize the space for an open-sky restaurant, coffee shop, library
and art gallery," said architect Dulal Mukherjee, the man in charge
of the project.

Developed by Armenian jute merchant TM Thaddeus in 1910, Park Mansions
was constructed as a rental property with mixed-usage comprising both
residential and commercial segments. The building, spread over 5 bigha,
had a central courtyard and a garden. The architecture is a mix of
Victorian and Indo-Saracenic style, with a bulbous dome on the roof,
a British interior with a touch of Indian on the facade.

While age and disrepair took its toll on the building, a devastating
fire at Alliance Francaise (AF) damaged sections of the structure. The
heat led to excessive stress on the structure, weakening the building’s
northeast corner. Following the fire, AF shifted out of the building
for the first time since 1945. The French consulate has already agreed
to be housed in Park Mansions post-renovation.

Efforts are on to woo back AF post-renovation. Incidentally, the
oldest existing tenant in the building is S Mathews & Co, whose
tenancy dates back to 1931.

Architect firm Dulal Mukherjee & Associates is currently engaged in
reversing the aging process and reinforcing the sections that had
been weakened by the fire. Escalators and overhead water distribution
system will be modernized; the drive and lighting arrangements will
be upgraded.

One of the major challenges that Mukherjee’s men face is to restore the
building without compromising on safety and mobility of tenants. "The
building is inhabited and there is no provision for rehabilitation of
tenants during restoration. So, it is a huge challenge," Mukherjee
explained. The restoration of the main building is expected to be
completed within June 2009 and the new mid-section by December 2009.

Two other big properties along the stretch — Queen’s Mansions and
20 Park Street — have already been renovated. The remaining two —
Stephen Court and Karnani Mansions — are yet to be renovated. While
the exterior of Stephen Court has been repaired in patches, owners of
Karnani Mansions plan to undertake a major renovation next year. Once
that’s through, all colonial structures along Park Street would have
received a fresh lease of life.