Detailed Project Report has been submitted by the Centre for Heritage Initiative, Bengaluru to the museum authorities and an expert committee will verify the report on April 4. The renovation work is likely to begin after two months. Once the renovation work begins, the museum will be closed down for at least two years. Experts to estimate revised cost
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Napier Museum, the pride of the capital, will get a makeover soon with the authorities deciding to begin renovations works by June. The Detailed Project Report (DPR) has been submitted by the Centre for Heritage Initiative, Bengaluru to the museum authorities and an expert committee will verify the report on April 4. The committee will analyse the report and will later invite an Expression of Interest (EOI) from companies to renovate the Museum.
According to Museum authorities, the renovation works might begin after two months. The initial procedure including inviting bids will take a period of at least two months. “We have already received the DPR. It will be analysed by the committee on April 4. We will take the decision on inviting EOI after giving in-principle approval to the project. Hopefully, the works could begin by June,” said K Gangadharan, director of Museum and Zoo.
The DPR was prepared by inculcating the recommendations made by the experts on how the age-old museum could be renovated preserving its heritage. Once the works begin, the Museum will be closed down for at least two years. Since the renovation works will take place in the indoor area, the monsoon will not affect the works, authorities said.
The proposal of renovating the museum, one of the oldest in the country, was mooted two years ago when an expert committee from National Museum, New Delhi advised the museum authorities to revamp it by preserving the artefacts. The cost of the project was Rs 2 crore when it was announced in 2016. The revised cost will be estimated in the expert committee meeting.
Delay occurred due to the project’s sensitive nature
Gangadharan said the delay in starting the renovation work was due to the project’s sensitive nature. “Renovating a museum is not like any civil works. In fact, it is a conservation work and needs an expert contractor to renovate without harming the heritage value. A detailing work is also needed for this project. So we can’t start the work in a fortnight. It will take some time,” he said. The selected agencies will also have the responsibility of recruiting the architects abiding by the advice of the National Research Laboratory.
Expert committee members
Dr Velayudhan Nair, former professor and head, National Museum Institute will be the chief advisor of the expert committee. John Scott, president. New York Conservation Centre and Gabriela Krist, head of the department, Institute of Conservation University of Applied Arts, Vienna are the international advisors while B V Kharbade, project officer and director, National Research Laboratory for Conservation of culture property, will oversee the conservation programme.
In February 2016, the Museum and zoo department had organised a four-day long international seminar with the experts and a slew of recommendations was made for the sustainable conservation of Napier museum by adopting scientific methods.
Separate building for collectibles
Experts recommended a separate building for collectibles so that the display could be carried out on a rotational basis. Currently, the museum has over 500 stones, objects and over 5,000 ancient coins in addition to the textile collectibles.