Madras High Court's 133-year-old heritage building gets a new lease of life
The Madras High Court is all set to complete 163 years since its establishment on June 26, 1862 and the heritage building in which it is housed in at present will be completing 133 years since its inauguration on July 12, 1892. What better time could there be to give a new lease of life to the timeless edifice still serving as a functional building visited by thousands of litigants and lawyers on a daily basis.
The High Court's building committee comprising Justices R. Subramanian, R. Suresh Kumar, P.T. Asha and N. Mala have spent considerable amount of time and energy in turning the building's ground floor, that had been neglected for decades, into a pleasant haven that brings back nostalgic memories of the past. Now, the entire two-storey building looks magnificent.
According to Public Works Department (PWD) Executive Engineer S. Kulanthaiyan, the biggest challenge in undertaking the renovation work was to shift the old case records that had been stored inside the rooms on the ground floor by stacking them on very tall iron racks. 'We had to spend considerable time on shifting those case bundles and then dismantling the racks using gas welding in order to free up the rooms,' he said.
After completing the exercise, repairs were carried out on the damaged walls and ceiling joints, the stone arches were restored, both interior and exterior walls were white washed, doors varnished, all gates leading to the court buildings from multiple sides were opened up, the corridors were spruced up, vintage lighting arrangements were made and the walls were decorated with acclaimed illustrator Manohar Devadoss' pencil sketches of iconic locations in Chennai city.
Not just this, the committee also insisted on opening up the spiral staircases that connect the ground floor with the top floors. These spiral staircases had remained under lock and key for several years and used as a place to dump the discarded furniture and other articles. They were also kept shut due to security concerns ever since the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) began guarding the court building.
However, the committee insisted on opening up the spiral staircases too and made the CISF deploy additional personnel at those entry points. Even on the exterior front, multiple standalone overhead water tanks that had been blocking the view of the heritage building were razed down and alternative arrangements were made for water supply without disturbing the classic Indo Sarcenic structure.
Advocate M.R. Jothimanian said, the lawyers would always be indebted to the committee for having taken the pains to restore the glory of the heritage building. 'For us, the lawyers, this High Court building is virtually our second home because we spend most of our time over here and we know that it is not an easy job to keep such a beautiful edifice functional without turning it into a museum.'
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