5/5 APURBA G. 4 years ago on Google
Home
Random
Nearby
Log
in
Settings
About
Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Open
main
menu

Search
Kolkata
Town
Hall
Read
in
another
language
Download
PDF
Watch
this
page
Edit
Kolkata
Town
Hall in Roman
Doric style,
was
built
in
1813
by
the
architect
and
engineer
Maj.-Gen.
John
Garstin
(1756–1820)
with
a
fund
of
700,000
Rupees
raised
from
a
lottery
to
provide
the
Europeans
with
a
place
for
social
gatherings.
Kolkata
Town
Hall
Town
Hall
of
Kolkata
Wikimedia |
© OpenStreetMap
General
informationArchitectural
styleRoman
DoricLocationKolkata, India Address4,
Esplanade
Row
(West),
Kolkata
-
700001Completed1813OwnerKolkata
Municipal
CorporationDesign
and
constructionArchitectCol.
John
GarstinReferencesKolkata
Town
Hall
History
of
the
BuildingEdit

The
Town
Hall
in
the
1860s.
1813
to
1900Edit
The
building
of
the
Town
Hall
was
made
in
Roman-Doric
style
in
1813.
At
first,
the
hall
was
placed
under
a
committee,
which
allowed
the
public
to
use
the
hall
under
such
terms
and
conditions
as
were
fixed
by
the
Government.
The
public
could
visit
the
ground
floor
hall
to
see
statues
and
large
size
portrait
paintings
but
they
were
not
allowed
indiscriminate
access
to
the
upper
storey.
Applications
for
the
use
of
the
upper
storey
were
to
be
made
to
the
committee.
In
1867
Town
Hall
came
under
the
management
of
the
municipal
authority,
the
Justices
of
Peace
for
the
improvement
of
the
town
of
Kolkata(later
on
the
Calcutta
Corporation).
In
the
1870s,
at
the
time
of
the
Chief
Justice
Richard
Couch,
when
the
present
building
of
the
High
Court
was
being
built,
the
Town
Hall
was
temporarily
used
for
judicial
purposes.
In
1871,
one
of
the
Puisne
Judges, Sir
John
Paxton
Norman was
assassinated
by
a
fanatic
Muslim
of
the
Wahabi
sect,
while
coming
down
the
steps
of
the
Town
Hall.
In
the
year
of
1897
the
Town
Hall
had
been
renovated
at
a
cost
of
about
Rs.
1.126
million.
1900
to
1947Edit
In
1914
almost
all
the
marble
statues
except
the
statue
of
Ramanath
Tagore
have
been
shifted
to Victoria
Memorial.
After
the
introduction
of
the
Dyarchy
in
1919,
the
Town
Hall
was
used
as
the
council
chamber
of
the
Bengal
Legislative
Council.
The
interior
of
the
Hall
was
remodeled
to
suit
the
needs
of
the
Council.
The
President
of
the
Council
had
his
chamber
in
the
Town
Hall.
Subsequently,
the
Legislative
Council
moved
to
its
new
building
in
1931.[1]
During
the
Second
World
War,
the
government
temporarily
opened
a
Rationing
Office
in
the
Hall.
Post
IndependenceEdit
After
Independence,
the
Town
Hall
Building
was
largely
neglected,
during
the
early
days
of
independence,
during
the
'Socialist
Era'
of
early
independence
and
seems
to
have
been
steadily
consigned
to
collective
oblivion.
It
was
converted
into
the
Municipal
Magistrate’s
Office.
Other
branches
of
the
Corporation
were
accommodated
within
its
premises.
The
Municipal
Service
Commission
and
the
West
Bengal
Public
Service
Commission
also
occupied
parts
of
the
building.
In
1975,
all
marble
busts
along
with
some
portrait
paintings
were
shifted
to
the
Victoria
Memorial
Hall
except
the
busts
of
Greenlaw
and
Palmer.
The
rest
numbers
of
portrait
paintings
had
also
been
shifted
to
Central
Municipal
Office
building
leaving
two
portrait
paintings
of
Ryan
and
Nott
at
Town
Hall.
Gradually
this
magnificent
building
with
rich
heritage
was
sunk
into
oblivion.
In
1998
by
timely
intervention
of
the
ASI
and
the
Calcutta
High
Court
this
heritage
building
was
saved
from
further
damage
and
destruction.
And
was
later
renovated
to
its
former
glory,
and
is
now
used
for
public
gatherings
and
functions.

Town
Hall
Town
Hall
LibraryEdit
In
1999,
Corporation
purchased
the
entire
collection
of
rare
books
and
journals
on
Kolkata
from
the
noted
Kolkata
expert
P.
T.
Nair
to
form
a
reference
library.
In
2004,
the
library
was
formally
opened
by
the
then
Minister
of
Library
Services,
Nimai
Mal
in
a
small
function
presided
over
by
the
then
Mayor
Subrata
Mukherjee.
In
2007,
the
entire
reference
library
of
the
Corporation
has
been
amalgamated
with
the
Town
Hall
Library.
Now
the
library
possesses
about
12,000
books
and
journals