Phase 1 of textile museum to be completed by February: BMC

Two years after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) began work on creating a textile museum at the decrepit United Mills Compound 2 and 3, to showcase Mumbai’s erstwhile mill culture, work on its first phase will be completed by February next year

Two years after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) began work on creating a textile museum at the decrepit United Mills Compound 2 and 3, to showcase Mumbai’s erstwhile mill culture, work on its first phase will be completed by February next year, the civic body has said.

BMC will simultaneously work on phase two of the textile museum project, which includes creating the museum displays, structural restoration of the entire building, plumbing, drainage, fire safety, among others. (Hindustan Times)

The museum, spread over 16.3 acres of land, will document, archive and represent Mumbai’s textile legacy.

Though phase 1 does not include the actual displays for the museum, it includes a tourist attraction of a three-dimensional multimedia water fountain, within the mill’s premises. Once completed in February, the civic body is likely to throw it open for the public, and host musical fountain shows.

A senior civic body official from the heritage department said, “We mulled whether to open the museum for the public after the entire project was complete. But that is at least going to take three more years. Phase one will be completed in February, after which we will open it for the public. Ticket and pricing are yet to be decided.”

BMC will simultaneously work on phase two of the project, which includes creating the museum displays, structural restoration of the entire building, plumbing, drainage, fire safety, among others. This is likely to take three more years, after which, the civic body will begin procuring items for museum displays.

The musical fountain will cost the civic body ₹19 crore and an additional ₹3 crore for operation and maintenance for four years. The remaining phase one will cost ₹10 crore.

Phase two is in the tendering process at present.

BMC first started work on phase one of the project in 2019. It entailed a facelift for a small portion of the mill compound and the work was divided into two parts. Part one comprised upgrading the infrastructure of the area, restoring gates and grills and constructing a canteen. This part of the project is complete. Part two includes landscaping of the area, constructing an open-to-air amphitheatre, cleaning up the pond, and setting up a musical fountain. People can view the musical show from the amphitheatre.

The official said, “Only installing the musical fountain is remaining now. All other aspects of our phase one are done.” It took two years to complete this phase, as the heritage department received permission from the tree authority to chop off 22 affected trees in December 2020.

The 3-dimensional nozzles required for the musical fountain show will be procured from the international market. The contractor initially submitted a design to the civic body, and procured locally made nozzles. “These were not up to the mark. They were only giving us two-dimensional images. From market research, we learned the kind of nozzles we are looking for are not made in the Indian market. We don’t want to compromise with the grandeur of the project. Hence, it is taking longer,” the officer added.

The contractor has located German, Chinese, and Korean nozzles, and will be procuring them within a month.