Kolkata Town Hall

Kolkata Town Hall
Town Hall of Kolkata
General information
Architectural style	Roman Doric
Location	Kolkata, India
Address	4, Esplanade Row (West), Kolkata - 700001
Completed	1813
Owner	Kolkata Municipal Corporation
Design and construction
Architect	Col. John Garstin
References
Kolkata Town Hall

Kolkata Town Hall in Roman Doric style, was built in 1813 by the architect and engineer Maj.-Gen. John Garstin (1756-1820) with a fund of 700,000 Rupees raised from a lottery to provide the Europeans with a place for social gatherings. At first, the hall was placed under a committee, which allowed the public to use the hall under such terms and conditions as were fixed by the Government. The public could visit the ground floor hall to see statues and large size portrait paintings but they were not allowed indiscriminate access to the upper storey. Applications for the use of the upper storey were to be made to the committee. In 1867 Town Hall came under the custody of the Calcutta Municipality (later the Kolkata Municipal Corporation). In 1897 the Town Hall was partly renovated. After independence in 1947, indiscriminate interference with the structure inevitably took its toll, but was stopped in 1998 by timely intervention .

The town hall was featured on the 6th leg of The Amazing Race 18, when the teams had to compete in a tea-drinking roadblock.

References

• Municipal Calcutta - Its Institutions in their origin and growth - Compiled by S.W. Goode, First published in 1916 at Edinburgh and Reprinted in 2005 by Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
• Calcutta Old & New - H.E.A Cotton, 1909, Calcutta.