Town Hall to get new ‘lease’ of life, will be run as a hotel

Maintenance of the heritage building was getting difficult for want of funds. Now, the contractor will pay a monthly licensing fee of ₹1.96crore

Failing to get any financial help to redevelop its erstwhile headquarters, the iconic Town Hall in Chandni Chowk, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has decided to lease out the heritage building to a private contractor for running a hotel-cum-museum for 33 years.

The municipality has started the tendering process. To run the hotel, the contractor will pay a monthly licensing fee of ₹1.96 crore. The project will be placed before the standing committee next week for final approval.

The idea to transform the heritage building, which was constructed in 1864 and served as the headquarters of the unified MCD from 1866 to 2009, was in the pipeline for the last five years.

“In 2013, the Union tourism ministry announced ₹50 crore for redevelopment of Town Hall from its 12th Five Year Plan through central financing assistance. But the project was shelved for want of requisite funds,” said a senior North Corporation official on condition of anonymity.

“The civic agency revived the project in 2016 and made efforts to get funds from the ministry and shared a detailed project report, followed by reminders. But nothing happened,” the official said.

In December 2017, the corporation passed a proposal to call for bids from companies specialising in designing museums or heritage management to ready a plan to run the premises on a publicprivate partnership basis.

“After discussing various possibilities, it finally decided to run a hotel in one portion and a museum on other. The expenditure for the renovation will be borne by the contractor,” said an official.

“But the contractor will not be allowed to disturb its original architectural and heritage value,” Veena Virmani, North Corporation’s standing committee chairperson, said. Historian Sohail Hashmi, who was part of the initial project approved by the ministry, is not happy with the proposal. “In the plan, there was provision for converting the main building into a public library and exhibition hall, representing the history of Delhi. It was supposed to be open for all. Besides, there were provisions for three restaurants on the first floor and using the space at back of Town Hall for cultural activities. All these facilities were supposed to be maintained by the civic agency,” he said.