Date:25/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/25/stories/2008112557770200.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Adding beauty to traditional buildings

Special Correspondent

New compound wall with carved panels, wire-cut bricks to encircle museum

— PHOTO: S. THANTHONI

HERITAGE Ambience: The compound wall of Government Museum has been renovated using pink sandstone rocks, keeping in mind the heritage buildings on the premises.

CHENNAI: The carved panels, the sandstones and the wire-cut bricks keep in mind the beauty of the buildings that the wall will enclose. The new compound wall of Government Museum in Egmore reflects the ambiance of the heritage buildings inside.

Renovation of the portion abutting Casa Major Road has been completed. A portion of the wall along the main entrance of the museum is currently being worked on.

Museum officials say much effort and money has gone into rebuilding the compound wall. The project, mooted during the 150th anniversary of the museum seven years ago, was part of the celebration in which the then president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam participated.

The façade of the National Art Gallery building, built using pink sandstone, was taken as centrepiece for the project. The pink sandstone used for building the National Art Gallery was believed to have come from places as far as Sathiavedu and Rajamundhry in Andhra Pradesh.

“Work was started during the 11th finance commission period and a budget of Rs.30 lakh was provided. The work has been taken up by the Public Works Department and we have been procuring pink sandstone from various parts of the country. The carvings were done at Mamallapuram,” Shanthini Kapoor, Commissioner of Museums, said. During the 12th finance commission another 172 m length of wall was renovated at a cost of Rs.77 lakh. About 100 m length of wall is pending completion. The department is awaiting more funds, which is expected to be received during this financial commission period itself.

“The first section of the wall was completed using pink sand stones bought from the mines in Andhra Pradesh. When the mines there ran dry the PWD had to identify the stones. Now the PWD is planning to procure pink slabs from Orissa,” Ms. Kapoor added.