Urban News

“We will begin restoration and and repair of windowpanes and install stained glass in the arch windows,” said A Sabnis, senior architect with the BMC’s urban heritage conservation committee.

“The original building had historic stained glass of various shapes sizes and types and we are aiming at restoring it in its full glory,” said heritage architect Abha Narain Lambah. “We have selected a specialist glass conservator, Parveen Mistry, to head a team for this work.”

Mistry, a “stained glass preservator”, has done such restoration work at the Convocation Hall in Mumbai University.

“Over the years, the stained glass in the BMC building has been damaged; some has come off or even rusted,” said Lambah. “The work is of over a dozen types ranging from rose windows to landset windows. The restoration work is expected to be completed within a year,” said Lambah.

The total cost of the stained-glass restoration has been estimated at about Rs 75 lakh. Only the upper part of windows, which are arch-shaped, will have stained glass. “The lower part did not have stained glass in the original plan. Also, stained glass at the bottom will obstruct visibility,” said Sabnis.

In July, the BMC headquarters had got a coat of 23.5-carat gold on its main dome. While working on overall restoration, Lambah’s team had found specks of gold on the dome.

All this is part of a massive project to restore the 125-year old colonial structure built in the Gothic-Revival style in 1884. Work had begun in 2008. The process includes restoration of interiors and the exteriors, from the roof tiles to the Minton tiles inside, from strengthening several wooden beams to stained glass work. The BMC had appointed a panel of three conservation architects, Lambah, and Shimul Zaveri Kadri, for the Rs-80-crore project.