Bangalore: The Sir K.P. Puttanna Chetty Town Hall, popularly called the Town Hall, which was inaugurated by Sri Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar inaugurated on September 11, 1935. will celebrate its 80th birthday on Thursday.
The Town hall, a popular location for a number of important cultural events of the city. was constructed at a cost of Rs. 1.75 lakh under the guidance of the Dewan of Mysore Sir Mirza Muhammad Ismail in 1930s. It is constructed in the Classical Greco-Roman style
The town hall was named after the great philanthropist K.P. Puttanna Chetty, the first president of the then Bangalore City Municipality.
Cultural Centre
The town hall, which has extensive teak wood work in its interiors, has a seating capacity of 1038 seats and its frontal elevation looks like the American White house With a flight of steps leading to the entrance porch resting on Tuscan columns.
For nearly 30 years, until the construction of Ravindra Kalakshetra nearby, Town Hall was the centre for all the cultural activities. The Town hall has been a popular location for protests too.
Renovation:
There are however inherent defects in its interior design that prevent a full viewing of the stage. In 1976, the then Chief Minister D. Devaraj Urs ordered renovation when he found it difficult to have the full view of Russian Ballet show held here.
As usual the PWD delayed the renovation and the cost went up from the original Rs.10 lakh, to Rs. 65 lakh The renovated hall has an extended stage situated at a lower level which facilitated better viewing of programmes and consequently the seating capacity had to be reduced from 1,038 to 810.
The Town Hall hit the headlines when Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) moved a proposal to pledge it to avail itself a loan in January 2014. But the proposal was dropped after much public furore and the intervention of the government.
Now after 24 years, Town Hall is set for another facelift at a cost of a cost of Rs. 5 crore. this would include a new false ceiling, waterproof ceiling, centralised air conditioning facility. granite slabs in the lobby and a 125 kV generator.
