Conservation, reuse is a laudable initiative. But a very difficult choice indeed!
A conundrum with the RCTC property premises that is up for promotion. There are many angles to the project and we choose the one that is the loudest, which seems to sound correct. Correct may not be feasible. The EMAAR bid to make a five star hotel on these premises came up many years ago and I cannot remember if there was a storm over destroying a heritage property. No one remembers.
What we do know is that a Condo is going to come up soon and everyone is in a tizzy. Media has published articles and people are talking about loss of a valuable heritage and an environmental disaster. We also know that the Royal Calcutta Turf Club has been in trouble, in the red with mismanagement and accruing debts. How does one solve this status quo? To build or not build. If it doesn’t get an infusion of funds it may just close down. A loss of a valuable heritage institution in reality. If it does it would have given up a slice of its property. A modern highrise building adjacent to a Heritage milestone. Anachronistic!
There are odds and there are arguments. One can never look at this problem unilaterally. There are many layers, many prisms none of which will make everyone happy. An optimum solution is evasive.
Important posers for heritage. In my naivete and without all information with reference to an issue I tend to believe what is ostensibly the correct picture. When I dig deeper I find a different picture and my opinion swings the other way. My head and heart can never agree. As a heritage lover, an utopian solution would be to save everything old in its former glory but as we move ahead my head says you cant. We are then stuck in a world of objective, subjective and all greys to shroud the evidentiary truth!
A thought remains. Even if we build can we be mindful about the neighbourhood, the environment and adapt the design sensibility to what is there.
By Vibha Mitra