New Delhi, Sep 23 A major redevelopment proposal for the iconic Town Hall situated in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk has been initiated with an estimate cost of Rs 225 crore, officials said on Wednesday.
An MoU was signed between the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in the presence of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta at the Delhi Secretariat on Sunday
Under the proposed project, the historic site will undergo a comprehensive transformation aimed at enhancing heritage tourism, cultural engagement, and community spaces.
The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the ambitious project is being prepared under the Central Government’s flagship Swadesh Darshan 2.0 Scheme, officials said.
The project covers the Town Hall, Press Building and Park spread over around 12,180 square metres in the historic Chandni Chowk and Shahjahanabad areas.
The complex, built between 1860 and 1866, remained the civic body headquarters for a long time before it shifted to the Dr SP Mukherjee Civic Centre in 2010. Since then, a large part of the complex has remained largely vacant. The building is classified as Grade-I
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) intends to facilitate statutory approvals and oversee implementation, officials said.
According to official project details, the redevelopment plan includes a wide array of cultural, modern, and recreational features including cultural & heritage facilities.
An immersive museum, themed galleries showcasing the historical eras of Delhi, temporary art galleries, and spaces dedicated to seasonal exhibitions is being planned, officials said.
The detailed plan also includes hospitality & retail related as provision for heritage stays and dedicated zones for vibrant flea markets.
The recreation & events plan includes a plug-and-play open amphitheatre to host live performances and cultural programs, alongside an integrated sports arena located within the central courtyard.
The proposed revamp seeks to preserve the architectural legacy of Town Hall while converting it into a dynamic hub for residents and international tourists alike, officials said.
The project may subsequently be developed through public investment or the public-private partnership (PPP) model, officials added.
A Joint Working Group comprising representatives of the DTTDC and MCD will regularly review the progress.
The initial term of the MoU is 30 years and can be extended by another 30 years with mutual consent, they added.
The classification of heritage structures in Delhi into specific categories like Grade I is formally governed by the Heritage Conservation Committee (HCC) in coordination with local civic bodies under the framework of the Unified Building Bye-Laws (UBBL) for Delhi.
Previously, the Delhi Town Hall building in Chandni Chowk has been the subject of at least five distinct redevelopment/restoration proposals since it fell vacant in 2011-12 after MCD shifted operations to the Civic Centre, and none have been carried through to completion.
In 2010, just before the shift, the civic body first floated the idea of converting it into a high-end heritage hotel with a museum attached, an idea revived formally in 2018 by the erstwhile North Delhi Municipal Corporation — that heritage-hotel plan did not materialise.
Around 2014, a Centre-funded restoration was proposed, to be funded by the Union Tourism Ministry, but that could not be materialised on that front, pushing the NDMC toward a public-private-partnership route instead, for which it began preparing an RFP.
Separately, the central government also expressed interest in taking the site on lease to build a museum, library and recreation centre, but that plan was also stalled.
In late 2023, MCD announced a fresh push to turn Town Hall into a civic/municipal history museum, and by April 2024 this had progressed furthest of all the attempts — MoUs were signed with the Aga Khan Trust for structural restoration and with IGNCA for conserving artifacts and setting up the museum, with conservation experts from the state archaeology department and ASI inspecting the site in 2024, but it did not materialise as well.
(PTI News)
