RESTORING ICONIC DOME JINXED AFFAIR

  • | Monday | 10th December, 2018

Vadodara: It was a gift that the Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III had given to the Baroda state over a century back. Later, the university hired two other architects – both of whom eventually left the project without finishing the work.Finally, it was university’s construction division which completed the restoration project in July 2005. But all efforts of conserving this heritage structure, which is a prominent landmark for M S University and the city, have always remained a jinxed affair.The central dome of Faculty of Arts - Asia's second largest masonry dome structure, was designed by British architect R F Chisholm in 1880s. However, even this project was mired in controversies. But over the years, the plaster of dome surface had started de-bonding, masonry had got exposed while fungus and algae had started covering the entire surface even as rainwater used to get collected in the base of the double dome structure in the gap between the inner and outer dome.In the early 2000, the first effort to conserve the double dome structure had started with Faculty of Arts starting a fund-raising campaign for restoration.

Vadodara: It was a gift that the Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III had given to the Baroda state over a century back. But all efforts of conserving this heritage structure, which is a prominent landmark for M S University and the city, have always remained a jinxed affair.The central dome of Faculty of Arts - Asia's second largest masonry dome structure, was designed by British architect R F Chisholm in 1880s. But over the years, the plaster of dome surface had started de-bonding, masonry had got exposed while fungus and algae had started covering the entire surface even as rainwater used to get collected in the base of the double dome structure in the gap between the inner and outer dome.In the early 2000, the first effort to conserve the double dome structure had started with Faculty of Arts starting a fund-raising campaign for restoration. However, even this project was mired in controversies. The first controversy that had hit the restoration efforts was on whether the original colour of the dome which was in sombre sea green and brick red should be changed.Even as the dust settled over this row, the project waded into the problems related to the tendering process and the appointment of architects.After the university appointed an Ahmedabad-based architect , an unexpected turn of events led to the exit of this architect from the project. Later, the university hired two other architects – both of whom eventually left the project without finishing the work.Finally, it was university’s construction division which completed the restoration project in July 2005. But by this time, the dome had lost its original charm as the original brick colour and the vibrant designs of motifs were no longer visible as the university officials had treated the dome with ammonia.The exterior of the dome itself has blackened over the years due to continuous traffic movement on the busy Sayajigunj stretch.In actual terms, the dome has never been fully conserved as it faced threat of biodeterioration with mosses, lichens, algae and water seepage causing severe damage to the brick structure. Experts have time and again pointed out that the ammonia treatment has to be repeated at regular intervals.This time, the restoration project has hit another roadblock as the team hired by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has itself punctured its envelope at multiple locations while erecting scaffolding even before the actual restoration could be started.

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