10 years on, Victoria Hall awaits revamp

The first ever cinema show in Madras, 123 years ago, was staged in Victoria Public Hall on EVR Salai that today stands as one of Chennai’s prominent landmarks. Popularly known as VP Hall, the venue is in a shambles for over three decades and no event has been hosted so far.

The Greater Chennai Corporation, which owns the hall after a long legal battle 10 years ago, is all set to complete the pending renovation work of the hall and put the heritage structure back into use again. “We started the renovation of VP Hall in 2009 and the work was nearing completion. However, the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) work halted the progress. Corporation handed over the land on three sides of the building to CMRL. Due to this, we could not erect scaffoldings and continue the interior works. Now that CMRL work is completed near the hall, we can carry out the renovation,” a Chennai Corporation official said.

According to the official, the civic body has to refurbish the balcony and tower of the hall apart from plastering works on the outside and started the tender process. The work would be carried out at a cost of Rs 1.56 crore. Once the civic body appoints a suitable contractor, who can renovate the building with lime mortar, as used by the original builders 132 years ago, the renovation would resume in March. “We had renovated most parts of the building in 2009 at a cost of Rs 3.50 crore. After Cyclone Vardah, we replaced damaged tiles on the roof in 2018,” the official added.

Meanwhile, the official hinted that the VP Hall after renovation, to its past glory,would be used by the Chennai Corporation to conduct meetings and other public events. “We had invited experts from IIT-Madras, Anna University and other institutions to assess the damage of the structure and to suggest an action plan.”

Also, the Greater Chennai Corporation proposed to encase the Ripon Buildings, where the civic body sits, and Victoria Public Hall by demolishing the compound wall on the northern side of Ripon Buildings. “A compound wall will be constructed in a way that encases the VP Hall. The move will help in easy access to the Corporation staff and would ensure safety of the structure,” the official said. The civic body also plans to have a lawn and other beautification facilities in the premises, once the Metrorail hands over the land.

Since 1887, when the hall was open to public, the Indo-Saracenic building hosted hundreds of theatrical performances, including the plays helmed by the doyens of Tamil play, Sankaradoss Swamigal and Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar. The Hall also witnessed historical speeches of leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Sardar Patel in the pre-independence era.

In 1896, T Stevenson, proprietor of the Madras Photographic Store, ran cinema shows that consisted of ten short films. The Hall was designed by Robert Chisholm and was built by Namperumal Chetty to commemorate the golden jubilee of the reign of Empress Queen Victoria of Great Britain and named after her. The first seed for the VP Hall was sown in 1882 during a meeting at the Pachaiyappa’s Hall in George Town where some leading citizens of the city decided to construct a town hall. It is said that the building was completed at a cost of Rs 2.27 lakh on 57-ground land leased out by the then Corporation of Madras for 99 years to Victoria Memorial Trust. The rectangular structure has two halls that can accommodate 750 people at a time.

After the cessation of the 99-year lease in 1985, the Chennai Corporation intended to take over the building from the Trust. The long legal battle ended in 2009 and the civic body acquired rights over VP Hall. On gaining control of the building and land surrounding it the civic body evicted as many as 32 hotels and shops that were functioning on the structure’s land. Chennai Corporation took over the building from April 1, 2009. Prior to the 2009 renovation, efforts were also made to renovate the structure in 1957 and in 1967.

While the civic body is cautious about conducting public events in the hall, historians demanded to open the Hall for public use. “The VP Hall was built as Town Hall to host public events. When the hall is open to public, it can be maintained,” said V Sriram, historian and heritage enthusiast.