Western Railway (WR) has revived the old charm of the heritage Headquarter Building at Churchgate by undertaking various restoration works. To add more beauty and aesthetics to this magnificent edifice, the façade of the iconic heritage building has been provided with illumination work, besides restoration of heritage aspects of the entrance foyer. Alok Kansal, general manager, Western Railway inaugurated the beautifully restored heritage foyer and the illumination on the façade, on Friday, May 28.
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According to a press release issued by Sumit Thakur, chief public relations officer of WR, the headquarter building of Western Railway at Churchgate is classified as a Grade I Heritage structure.
“WR has taken all efforts to restore its old glory by undertaking various renovations in the entrance foyer. The work of restoration comprised of cleaning of arches and removal of coats of paint. The arch stones constructed using porbandar stone, malad stone, sand stone and basalt were also given proper pointing. The decorative cornices were revived, disintegrated pillar stones repaired, wooden rafters of roof ceiling were scrapped and painted, heritage moldings have been rehabilitated, the wooden wall paneling work has been restored to its original shape and size and the marble flooring has also been given facelift with grinding and polishing. The restoration work has been undertaken at a cost of Rs. 15 lakhs and was completed almost within three months. The foyer has been lit with soft ambience lighting giving it an old-world charm,” the release said.
Giving further details, Thakur informed that the façade of the building has also been enhanced with RGBW based multi-colour LED luminaires. The illumination work will grace the headquarter building with different themes at befitting occasions.
“The beautiful lighting shall lift the morale and provide cheer to the city as it fights back during such testing times and will help to uplift the spirit. The illumination work of the façade will result in savings of approximately Rs. 10 lakhs per annum on account of lesser energy consumption as more distributed lighting is used and it being a permanent arrangement. The salient features of the façade illumination includes a remote control based lighting wherein the LED luminaires can be programmed as per the requirement of the occasion using a smartphone app as well as Windows based software for creating color scenes / programs.”
It may be noted that WR Headquarter Building is a graceful, aesthetic and splendid monument with a blend of Venetian Gothic and Indo-Sarcenic styles of architecture. The renowned architect Frederick William Stevens designed this edifice. The construction of the building commenced in 1894 and was completed in 1899, built at a cost of Rs. 7.5 lakhs. Standing at the heart of the city, the building accommodates the administrative offices of WR, the erstwhile BB and CI Railway.
At the outset, WR general manager Kansal also inaugurated the newly renovated staff canteen at the HQ building for the benefit of employees.
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The well-equipped newly renovated staff canteen is fully air conditioned and has a TV set for infotainment purpose. It has a separate enclosure for women employees.
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