BENGALURU: The over 150-year-old heritage structure on Infantry Road that once housed the City Police Commissionerate will soon become history, if the police department has its way.
The department has sought government nod to demolish the structure and turn it into a park. According to them, the vintage structure with tiled roof is in a dilapidated state and a hazard to those working on the premises and living in quarters next to it. The building with unique architecture housed the offices of police commissioner as well as additional commissioners of administration and law and order for several years.
According to sources, the building, which was constructed in 1840, was unused after the police commissioner’s office was shifted to a swanky new building on the same premises in 2015.
It operated as magistrate court after the British rulers shifted their headquarters to Bengaluru in mid -1800s. It has housed 31 police commissioners till N S Megharik.
The Commissioner of Income Tax too had written to the police commissioner about cracks on walls of some structures surrounding the building, causing hindrance to the next-door Income Tax Colony.
Taking into account all these factors, the police department sought to demolish the heritage building and other buildings surrounded by it. It is checking if there are any legal hurdles to demolish it.
“It is not a heritage building as per our knowledge but we have asked the government to confirm,” said a police officer.