The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Connemara Public Library regains former glory

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 21, 2006
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Connemara Public Library regains former glory

J. Malarvizhi

Restoration process took seven years and Rs.1.21 crore

CHENNAI: Intricate woodwork, colourful floral murals, and stained glass panels gleam in the harsh artificial lighting, as the final touches were given on Monday evening to the old building of the Connemara Public Library.

"We found several glass tiles, laid in three rows along the east and west of the building's vaulted roof, replaced by ordinary tiles when we began renovating," said Supriya Badrinath, Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which provided the technical expertise for the restoration. "They had been the principal beauty of the building, bringing in the light of the morning and evening sun."

Rectifying years of neglect

That was only part of the damage that many years of neglect had done to the 110-year-old building, initially designed to be the reading room when the library was still part of the colonial Government Museum.

Layers of tar-felt used to plug the leaking roof had to be peeled away, and the original channel to carry away water redone. Broken stained glass needed replacement. Floral stuccowork on the 26 arches, which crown the bays with bookshelves adjacent to the main stretch of the room, in the upper level needed restoration.

The spiral staircases that lead to the upper level and much of the furniture, including the richly carved bookshelves, are all made of fine teak and required anti-termite treatment.

Mogul plastering was in vogue during the period in which the reading room was designed and the process of giving a light coating of lime plaster, then polished with egg white for a natural, smooth finish, had to be repeated.

The restoration process took seven years and Rs.1.21 crore, provided by the Department of Culture, Government of India, and the Tamil Nadu Department of School Education.

The stained glass caused a long delay, recalls Ms. Badrinath. It had to be imported, and cut and assembled on site. Equal effort had gone into the process of constructing the building in 1896. The marble laid on the floor was transported along the then recently-constructed Buckingham Canal from the Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh.

The old building of the Connemara Library would be opened to the public next week. It would soon house back issues of periodicals, government documents and rare books. There will be a photograph exhibition between Thursday and Sunday on the restoration of the library.

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