MLAs asked to move out of Majestic hostel, repairs will begin soon
Officials say innards of century-old, six-storey Colaba heritage structure will be completely demolished, façade will remain; project could cost Rs 100 cr.
The legislature and the state government have begun issuing notices to legislators to move out of the century-old Majestic MLA hostel at Colaba, which is to be refurbished over a two-year period. The innards of the building will be demolished, retaining just the façade of the heritage structure, which according to Public Works Department officials, is in desperate need of upkeep.
“Work could start by the end of this year, after everyone moves out,” said PWD Chief Engineer Ulhas Debadwar. Plans for the six-storey building’s renovation were finalised in 2012, at which time the cost estimate for the project was Rs 70 crore. At existing rates, that number could vary between Rs 90 crore and Rs 100 crore.
The MLA hostel was originally Majestic Hotel and was converted to a building that lodges legislators in the 1960s (it is one of four such facilities in Mumbai), housing, among other grandees, Devendra Fadnavis, who occupied its rooms before moving to the chief minister’s official home, Varsha when he was elected to head the government.
But before work on his former hostel begins, a few legal matters are to be resolved, a PWD official said. Anant Kalse, the principal secretary of the state legislature, clarified: “There is a case that has been filed by Sahakari Bhandar [the chain of co-operative stores], which occupies the ground floor. Once we get a clearance from the court, we will start work.’’
The hostel contains 98 rooms of different sizes – the renovation will reduce this number to about 80; each room measuring a standard 600 sq ft. While the plan involves adding a floor to the structure, the total usable area will be reduced (with a centralised air-conditioning unit and a rain-water harvesting system taking up the additional space).
According to the PWD’s estimates, demolishing the interiors is likely to produce nearly 10,000 cubic metres of debris – the department official told Mumbai Mirror they would seek the traffic police’s permission to allow the movement of dump trucks during the day.
The original building was designed by architect WA Chambers, and inaugurated in 1909. In the ’60s, when the Maharashtra assembly functioned out of what is now the state police headquarters, the hotel was converted into a hostel for MLAs (owing to its proximity to their workplace).
In the 1980s, the state assembly moved to the new Vidhan Bhavan at Nariman Point but the MLA hostel remained where it was.
The legislature and the state government have begun issuing notices to legislators to move out of the century-old Majestic MLA hostel at Colaba, which is to be refurbished over a two-year period. The innards of the building will be demolished, retaining just the façade of the heritage structure, which according to Public Works Department officials, is in desperate need of upkeep.
“Work could start by the end of this year, after everyone moves out,” said PWD Chief Engineer Ulhas Debadwar. Plans for the six-storey building’s renovation were finalised in 2012, at which time the cost estimate for the project was Rs 70 crore. At existing rates, that number could vary between Rs 90 crore and Rs 100 crore.
Much of that budget will be expended in attending to bad plumbing, leaking ceilings, and structural damage, an official at the PWD said, adding that the scale of the exercise is similar to that undertaken when the TCS headquarters opposite Bombay Gymkhana was renovated eight years ago.
The MLA hostel was originally Majestic Hotel and was converted to a building that lodges legislators in the 1960s (it is one of four such facilities in Mumbai), housing, among other grandees, Devendra Fadnavis, who occupied its rooms before moving to the chief minister’s official home, Varsha when he was elected to head the government.
But before work on his former hostel begins, a few legal matters are to be resolved, a PWD official said. Anant Kalse, the principal secretary of the state legislature, clarified: “There is a case that has been filed by Sahakari Bhandar [the chain of co-operative stores], which occupies the ground floor. Once we get a clearance from the court, we will start work.’’
The hostel contains 98 rooms of different sizes – the renovation will reduce this number to about 80; each room measuring a standard 600 sq ft. While the plan involves adding a floor to the structure, the total usable area will be reduced (with a centralised air-conditioning unit and a rain-water harvesting system taking up the additional space).
According to the PWD’s estimates, demolishing the interiors is likely to produce nearly 10,000 cubic metres of debris – the department official told Mumbai Mirror they would seek the traffic police’s permission to allow the movement of dump trucks during the day.
The original building was designed by architect WA Chambers, and inaugurated in 1909. In the ’60s, when the Maharashtra assembly functioned out of what is now the state police headquarters, the hotel was converted into a hostel for MLAs (owing to its proximity to their workplace).
In the 1980s, the state assembly moved to the new Vidhan Bhavan at Nariman Point but the MLA hostel remained where it was.
