Kerala   

Aesthetics goes for a toss

—Photo: S. Gopakumar

There goes the view: A framework of steel pipes being erected around the Museum compound.

With scant regard to the old-world appeal of the Napier Museum and its premises the authorities are going head with the erection of a link-mesh fence along the perimeter of the heritage building.

Large metal pipes — the framework of the proposed fence — have been welded in place along the compound wall. The fence is ostensibly being erected to “enhance the security” of the Museum premises.

“We are constructing the fence to prevent people from jumping over the compound wall and into the Museum grounds,” the director of the Museum and zoo Elcy George told The Hindu here on Tuesday.

The Rs. 5-lakh project was conceived and sanctioned some time ago and it is only now that the construction activities have commenced, she added.

According to Ms. George there are some gaps in the existing wrought iron fence that lines the Museum’s perimeter. Crafting a replacement for the missing iron bars will be time-consuming and may also be prohibitively expensive.

The fence, once erected, may well obstruct the view of the Napier Museum from the road and is likely to begin sporting posters and banners of various kinds.

A Museum official said he felt that the fence as it is being planned does not befit a heritage building. He also pointed out that it may also be against the law to carry out such construction activities around a heritage complex.

Even the Museum director conceded that the visual appeal of the museum premises may be affected when the fence is erected. “Maybe as a long-term measure we can think of erecting another fence that gels with the ambience,” she said.

G. Mahadevan

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