SAMBALPUR: A town hall with seating capacity of 1,000 will be constructed near Jhasketan Sahu Swimming Complex at Mudipada in the city. The Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) has sanctioned `9 crore for the project which will be developed on 1.14 acres of land owned by Sambalpur Development Authority (SDA).
SDA Chairman Bijay Mohanty said the ground floor of the three-storey building will be used for parking along with some shops while the first floor will house the 1,000-seat town hall. The second floor will be developed as a market complex.He further informed that the Public Works Department (PWD) will execute the construction work. The detailed project report (DPR) is being prepared and tender for construction of the town hall will be floated soon after.
In the first phase, the ground and first floors will be constructed with the fund sanctioned by WODC. The second floor will be constructed in the next phase with funds from the SDA.The PWD will hand over the building to SDA after completion of the first phase work. The development authority will run and manage the town hall, he said.
Though the SDA has a market complex comprising 87 shops on the said land, it has not been utilised properly and the rooms are in a dilapidated condition now. Earlier, the private bus stand operated from the place, situated in the heart of the city, till it was shifted to Ainthapali area in 1999.
The market complex will be demolished after completion of the three-storey building and the shop owners
accommodated in the proposed market complex in the second and ground floors.
Though there are other halls in the city, the seating capacity is not enough to cater to the requirements of organisers who are forced to arrange functions on open grounds. However, this problem will be addressed after completion of the project.