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Friday, May 11, 2007
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Rejuvenation for colonial era church

Antara Das

— Photo: SUSHANTA PATRONOBISH

St John's Church in Kolkata.

Kolkata: With the World Monuments Fund (WMF) deciding to fund restoration of the external façade of St. John's Church in Kolkata, the city's colonial heritage is gaining its share of attention again.

The WMF, which had classified Dalhousie Square — the central business hub of the city — as one of the 100 most endangered sites in its 2004 watch list, had agreed to restore the façade of a prominent heritage building in the area so that it serves as a catalyst for similar rejuvenation projects in the future.

World Monuments Fund is a private, non-profit organisation that dedicates itself to preserving endangered architectural and cultural sites around the world.

``Initially, in a workshop organised in 2005, we decided to restore the magnificent Standard Assurance Building but later gave up the idea as the building was involved in litigation,'' said G.M. Kapur, convener, West Bengal and Calcutta chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).

Apart from INTACH, the Action Research in Conservation of Heritage (ARCH) and the Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, Government of West Bengal were the other organisers of the workshop.

The project, which employs the technical efforts of conservation experts such as Manish Chakraborty and Anandapran Gupta, is estimated to cost around Rs. 38 lakh and will take around nine months.

St. John's Church, which was built in 1787 and is believed to be the original parish church of Bengal, is located on an area of 8 bighas and 16 cottahs. Warren Hastings and Reverend William Johnson were said to be the prime movers behind its construction at an old burial ground that had been closed since 1676.

``The main problem is the age of the building with the consequent cracks, the seepage of water and the growth of plants and weeds," Mr. Kapur said.

While present efforts will concentrate on conserving the exterior, reviving the clock and bell tower and cleaning the churchyard, subsequent phases will concentrate on the landscaping of the rest of the grounds and conservation of the mausoleums and tombstones there, the most significant being the tomb of Job Charnock and the Holwell monument.

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