SAMBALPUR: Development often comes with a heavy price tag. Several significant landmarks in Sambalpur town, which is all set for a major facelift, will soon be buried in the pages of history.
Gaiety Talkies, bruised by time’s horrid fardel, tops the list of landmarks which have been sacrificed on the altar of development. Situated on Golebazaar-Pattnaikpada road, it was the first cinema theatre of the town. The inception of the theatre dates back to 1920 and even a road has been named after it. But now a multi-storey building has come up in its place after the owner of the Talkies sold it a couple of years back.
Another such monument of historical importance is Mahanadi Club. The Britishers had established the club way back in 1894 and Indians were not allowed into it. With the district administration failing to restore the original building, massive makeover has changed the looks of the club completely.
Now, with the administration all set to finalise the land over which Mahanadi Club stands for the proposed 11-storey IDCO Tower, the important landmark will soon fade into memories.
Similar is the fate of Ashoka Talkies which was established in 1964. The movie hall boasts of running several yesteryear’s Bollywood superhits, which the residents are still nostalgic about. Though the road on which it is located has been renamed VSS Marg after legendary freedom fighter Veer Surendra Sai, people continue to refer to it as Ashoka Talkies road.
Sources said the Talkies would be dismantled in a couple of months and a shopping mall-cum-multiplex will come up in its place.
These are not the only ones to fall from grace. For development plans for the town to become a reality, several more landmarks will have to be wiped out from its landscape.
