150-yr-old Town Hall to get a heritage facelift

Hall, a British era building in the heart of Chandni Chowk — which was once the headquarters of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi — will be redeveloped into a centre of cultural and social heritage.

North Delhi mayor Preeti Agarwal said that a proposal to develop Town Hall as a tourist destination of international standards has been finalised and the place will soon emerge as a centre of culture and social heritage, depicting the history, culture and life of Delhi.

The complex will be redesigned with a craft bazar, fountain, facility for lighting and sound for holding cultural programmes. There will also be dedicated zones for street food, play area for children, boutique hotel, courtyard, sculpture garden, digital library, lecture rooms, museum and dining areas.

The Town Hall was the headquarters of the unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi once and sprawls across 16 acres. It is one of the most important landmarks in the area.

“A museum, spread across 1,574 square metres, will be the centre of attraction. The theme of the museum will be history of Delhi,” she said.

North Delhi municipal commissioner Praveen Gupta said that the project will be developed on public-private-partnership mode. It is likely to start in the next nine months and be completed in two years.

He said that apart from depicting the history of Delhi, the project, once completed, will generate good revenue for the corporation.

The place, where the Town Hall stands today, was once a garden and an inn. The garden was made by Shah Jahan’s daughter, Jehanara. The sarai (inn) was used as guest house for VIP visitors and wealthy Persian traders. The area was known as Sahibabad or Begum Bagh at that time. The construction of the present building started in 1860 and was completed in 1863.

Since the municipality shifted its headquarters to the swanky Civic Centre on Jawaharlal Nehru Marg in 2010, the building has been lying vacant.