SAMBALPUR: The century-old Veer Surendra Sai Town Hall, popularly known as Victoria Hall, located in front of Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) will soon get a facelift. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) will carry out renovation of the heritage building.
Sambalpur Collector Samarth Verma said the Tourism Department has already approved `1.44 crore for the renovation work. An MoU will be signed with the INTACH for renovation of the historical building and work will start within a week.
Apart from renovation of the building, beautification work willbe carried out on the land around the building. INTACH has also planned to develop a museum inside the building after completion of the work, the Collector said.
Foundation stone of the building was laid in 1902 and the then Chief Commissioner of the Central Province, J P Hewety, had inaugurated the building in 1904. The British Government, the kings, landlords and businessmen of the region had contributed funds for construction of the heritage building. It was named as Victoria Hall and renamed as VSS Town Hall after Independence.
Member of INTACH, Sambalpur chapter, Deepak Panda said several important meetings were organised in the building as Sambalpur was a major hub during the British rule. Even the then Governor of Bengal Sir Andrew Frazer had convened a meeting of kings of the region in the building in 1908, he informed.
The Zilla School, Women’s College, Trust Fund College which is now known as Netaji Subash Chandra Bose College and office of the Sambalpur Development Authority operated from this building in the past before moving to their existing locations in the city.
At present, the heritage building wears a deserted look as wild vegetation have cropped up from the structure and plaster has peeled off from the outer wall. Though some renovation work of the building was carried out more than a decade back, many parts of the building are damaged.