Dazzling Victoria Hall, A Landmark Restored By CM Stalin At A Cost Of 32.62 Crore

Victoria Public Hall has been restored fully and the re-opening ceremony of which will be held by CM Stalin. CM Stalin announced the renovation of the historically significant monument at a cost of 32.62 crore last March under the Singara Chennai 2.0 project whose aim is to provide a facelift to infrastructure development in the city.

Under the project, historically significant buildings stained with dirt for years such as Chennai High Court, Victoria Public Hall are planned to be revived. At the time of announcement of renovation works in Victoria Public Hall, a preview of how the building will be renovated was shown to the public.

An open air exhibition hall has been established in the ground floor of the renovated Victoria Hall where facilities will be provided for the public to hold events. A photo exhibition named Chennai Art and Heritage Museum has been set up on the first floor to highlight the historic pride. The pictures on display include photos from the British period, historic map of Chennai city, ancient sculptures, inscriptions etc.

A museum has been set up where the exhibits are planned to be changed every 3 months to encourage frequent visits from the public. Additionally, a conference hall has also been set up. All these facilities have been made as a part of renovation in the Victoria Public Hall which is located between Ribbon building and Central Railway station.

Historic facts from Writer Sriram:

100 years ago, Victoria Public Hall was of paramount significance to Chennai city where major events were held. The need for a public hall was decided in the General Assembly held by Chennai Corporation in 1882. The funds for the construction of the hall was contributed by wealthy people in Chennai.

The empty area belonging to the Corporation near Moore market was chosen for the construction of the hall. This place was decided owing to its vicinity to the famous Moore market which is near the Central Railway Station, hence the place checks the boxes of accessibility and familiarity.

57 grounds which amounts to 1.368 lakh square feet (1 ground = 2400 sq. ft.) land from the empty area was decided to be used for the construction. Since, the land belongs to the government, it was decided to pay a rent of 50 paise per ground. Queen Victoria of England celebrated the golden jubilee of her coronation in 1887. The golden jubilee celebrations coincided with the completion of the public hall, hence the hall was named after Queen Victoria.

The architect of the Victoria Public Hall is Robert Chisholm who is also the architect of other red-coloured vintage buildings in Chennai. Thatikonda Namberumal Chetty who was an Indian, was the contractor for the public hall.

In 1893, the first meeting of Brahma Gana Sabha happened in Victoria Public Hall. In 1897, Swami Vivekananda delivered a speech in a public meeting held in the hall after returning from Chicago. Approximately 10,000 people attended the meeting in which Vivekananda gave a speech and paid Rs.2 as entry fee.

The concept of cinema was introduced in Chennai in 1896 by D. Stephen who ran the Madras Photography Store. He purchased a projector on December 8, 1896 and showed the cinema for the first time in Victoria Public Hall. In 1915, a Gujarati lawyer from Africa gave a lecture in the hall who later came to be known as Mahatma Gandhi.

The South Indian Welfare Rights Association which later on evolved into the Justice Party and Dravidar Kazhagam conducted its first meeting in Victoria Public Hall in 1916. In 1919, Bharathiyar attended a meeting held in the hall and delivered a speech. Such a historically important building was in ruins till now but realising its significance, CM Stalin has restored it.

"The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." - Winston Churchill.