Kolkata's 237-year-old building has survived earthquakes and cyclones, can stand for 100 more years: Expert
Times of India | 4 November 2024
A historic 237-year-old building on 9 Chowringhee Road in Kolkata KOLKATA: A 237-year-old building on 9 Chowringhee Road, right in the heart of the city, has withstood earthquakes, weathered cyclones, and witnessed the changing course of Kolkata’s and India’s history for nearly two and a half centuries.
It is sturdy enough to survive at least another century, a leading conservation architect who inspected the structure said.
The Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage (INTACH), which spearheads heritage awareness, has urged KMC to accord the building a heritage tag and has sought the intervention of municipal commissioner Dhaval Jain to restore it.
“Given its antiquity, the building is amazingly stable despite no repairs being carried out for over seven decades. Sheer apathy has led to its current condition. Given its history, it should definitely be repaired and restored,” said conservation architect Partha Ranjan Das, who was tasked by KMC to evaluate the building.
The civic body took up the inspection on a Calcutta High Court order after the tenants complained that the otherwise sound 18th-century structure was being allowed to go to waste by its current owner, Life Insurance Corporation of India, which did not take up any repairs. Situated at the intersection of S N Banerjee Road and Jawaharlal Nehru Road, the building was constructed in 1787. It is not known who commissioned the building, but it finds mention in British artist William Wood’s lithographs on Calcutta in 1833.
At some point, it was owned by Jewish tycoon Sir David Elias Ezra, who, in 1897, leased the building to American doctors MJK Smith and BJK Smith, who set up India’s first dentistry company on its premises the same year. The address also houses a famous tobacconist that was frequented by, among others, freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose and filmmaker Satyajit Ray. The three-storey building now has 22 tenants. Shops on the front include popular food joint Anadi Cabin, Chowringhee Cabin, Serological Labs, AN Auddy & Co, and a very old liquor shop, Italian Stores Pvt Ltd.
With its exterior plaster flaking off and vegetation taking root from crevices in the walls, the structure looks dilapidated and vulnerable. KMC tagged the building “insecure” twice in the past. But Himadri Guha, a member of KMC’s Heritage Committee, feels the building deserves heritage status and preservation. “It is not only old but has a chequered history. KMC should take the initiative for its restoration,” he said.
The dentistry business set up by the Smith brothers changed many hands after they left India in the 1920s. Another American dental surgeon purchased the firm, followed by Dr McRory, a Britisher, and after him, one N C Ray. Finally, it was purchased in 1980 by S K Bose and his brother. “When Dr R Ahmed wanted to set up a dental college in Kolkata, students used to be sent to Dr Smith Brothers to do house-staffship and internship. From Tagore to Mother Teresa, several eminent Kolkatans were all patients here,” said Bose, who now lives in Delhi.
Bose, however, claimed the building was not repaired since 1956-57. “LIC does not repair the building, nor does it allow us tenants to undertake any repairs,” he said. Attempts by TOI to get in touch with the LIC official who looks after real estate in the region did not elicit any response. There are two more buildings on the stretch that were constructed around 250 years ago.