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Restoration
of Heritage Buildings| | The
main Campus of the University of Delhi was established in the 1930s and 1940s,
on the area adjacent to the camp set up for the entourage of the King Emperor
during |  | | |
the Delhi Durbar. The area was on the North Western slope of the Northern Ridge,
and had several buildings and structures built by the British colonizers, some
immediately before and several others after the siege of Delhi in 1857. The most
magnificent among these buildings is the Old Viceregal Lodge. It now houses the
offices of the Vice Chancellor and other senior officers of the University, and
also the Council Halls. The building had a somewhat unremarkable beginning. It
was a forest inspection bungalow in the late 1860s. It was made a circuit house
in the 1880s. At the turn of the century it became the residence of the Viceroy
on his journey between Calcutta and Simla. When the colonial capital moved to
Delhi in 1911, the building became the residence of the Viceroy. The Viceroy lived
in this building right through the years of the great war and for almost a decade
thereafter, till his new residence designed by Lutyens on Raisina hill, some miles
to the south, was ready. The underground cellar of the building was for some time
used as a makeshift prison for Bhagat Singh, the great revolutionary. The | | |
present office of the Registrar of the University is the room in which Lord Mountbatten
proposed marriage to Edwina. The building was handed over to |  | | |
the University in 1933. Over the decades, the building had suffered major structural
and other damages. Several alterations had been made to the building, mostly to
create more space to accommodate the growing demands of a fast expanding institution.
In the year 2000, the building was a pale shadow of its glorious past. The Urban
Heritage Foundation, Delhi provided a generous grant- in-aid of Rupees 35 million
for the restoration of the building. The architect was selected through a competition
judged by a distinguished jury. Restoration involved undoing the alterations made
on the building over the years and restoring the original layout. During repairs,
care was taken to retain the original components of the building, be it woodwork
or marble. The old ballroom, which had for some time been used as the University
Library, and which became later a dump for old furniture has now been restored
and made into a state- | | |  |
of-the-art convention centre. The convention centre is centrally air- conditioned
and is equipped with sound-proof partitions which allow for its use either as
a large convocation hall or as three separate conference rooms. |
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An exhibition area and an archive have also been developed.
The greatest challenge in this process was to restore the original grandeur of
the building, while ensuring that the interiors were appropriately functional
for use as modern offices. The Jawahar Vatika and the lawns surrounding the building
have also been redesigned and re-landscaped in a manner that they blended harmoniously
with the restored building and its ambience. The University persuaded the Government
of Delhi to set aside Rupees 250 million during the Tenth Plan period (2002-2007)
for the restoration of old and heritage buildings at the University of Delhi and
its colleges. The Chief Minister Ms Sheila Dikshit and the then Lieutenant Governor
Mr Vijai Kapoor took special interest in getting this restoration project launched.
There are a few buildings on the University campus built in the 1940s, some of
them designed by one of Lutyen's contemporaries, Walter George. These buildings
were in varying states of disrepair, and needed urgently to be repaired and restored.
The Faculty of Arts building, Gwyer Hall, the Central Institute of Education,
the Old Physics and Chemistry Block and the Anthropology Block were identified
for restoration. The Old Physics and Chemistry Block is completely restored. Restoration
work in the Faculty of Arts, the Central Institute of Education and Gwyer Hall
is nearing completion. Restoration work in the Anthropology Block is about to
begin. Among the colleges, Indraprastha, St. Stephen's, Miranda House, Lady Irwin,
Hindu and Lady Shri Ram have been identified for restoration. While restoration
work in Indraprastha, St. Stephen's, and Miranda House is complete, work is about
to begin in Hindu, Lady Irwin and Lady Shri Ram.
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