High-end cafe to add gltiz to Shimla’s iconic British-era Town Hall
The high-end cafe at Shimla's Town Hall will reopen after a court petition was withdrawn, allowing commercial use of the historic building.
The high-end cafe at Shimla’s iconic Town Hall is set to reopen after a petition in Himachal Pradesh high court challenging the running of multi-franchise food court in the heritage building was withdrawn.
On January 9, the high court ‘dismissed’ the petition while terming it as ‘withdrawn’. A division bench comprising justices Tarlok Singh Chauhan and Rakesh Kainthla vacated the interim stay on the cafe.
The cafe that opened in 2023 stopped operations on January 10, 2024, after the high court stay. The petition was filed in August 2023.
Located on Shimla’s Mall Road, the British-era Town Hall, was built in 1860 and renovated in 1910-11 and 2014 to 18 in gothic architectural style.
The building has historic significance and is a notified heritage structure situated in a heritage area.
In September 2019, the high court had allowed the building’s owner, Shimla municipal corporation (MC), to only house offices of the mayor and deputy mayor there to maintain its grandeur and to preserve its heritage.
The remaining area was permitted to be used as a high-end cafe with an information centre and boutique showcasing traditional art and craft to allow the MC to generate revenue.
The Town Hall was restored at a cost of ₹8 crore and the MC, in consultation with the state government, had planned to establish the high-end cafe on the ground floor, which also houses the offices of mayor and deputy mayor.
In 2020, the MC had issued a tender for leasing the building for the cafe. As the MC could not find suitable bidders, it decided to hand over the responsibility of issuing the tender notice to the Himachal Pradesh Infrastructure Development Board (HPIDB). HPIDB issued a tender notice on February 26, 2022.
One Abhimanyu Rathore, a lawyer practising in the high court, filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in August 2023, seeking to quash the tender for the cafe. The petition alleged that the contractor was violating heritage building norms by building the cafe. The petitioner urged the court to direct the government to restore the heritage building to its original form and utilise it ‘properly’. The petition argued that repurposing the heritage property for commercial use might jeopardise its historical and architectural integrity.
On January 9, 2025, the petitioner, however, withdrew the PIL ‘with liberty to file afresh’, paving way for the cafe to be re-opened.
Officials say the re-opening of the cafe aligns with the original vision for the building’s use post-restoration. They said re-purposing of the Town Hall for commercial use will contribute to its upkeep and enhance its value as a public and tourist attraction.
MC had emphasized that the building’s transformation into a cafe would preserve and rejuvenate the heritage structure, ensuring its upkeep and relevance in modern times.
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