Soon, Shimla’s Town Hall to boast museum, posh restaurant

A meeting was held under chairmanship of municipal commissioner Pankaj Rai who has asked officials to complete the tendering process on priority

In a boost to tourism, the capitals iconic Town Hall building will soon boast a city museum and a high-end restaurant. While the Town Hall already serves as an office for the mayor and deputy mayor of Shimla, the municipal corporation has started the process of setting up the museum and restaurant in the building.

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A meeting was held under chairmanship of municipal commissioner Pankaj Rai who has asked officials to complete the tendering process on priority. The museum will be opened in the attic of the building while the posh restaurant will be on the ground floor.

Pankaj Rai said “This will boost tourism and enable MC to generate additional income. Tenders will be floated within a week.”

Earlier the Townhall served as the MC office but when it was closed for renovation in 2014, the MC office was shifted to a building near the deputy commissioner’s office.

Town Hall was restored under the Asian Development Bank -funded ‘Shimla Beautification Plan’ in which Rs 8 crore were sanctioned for the renovation, which was completed in 2018.

In December 2017, state high court had observed that the building be used for a library or a museum.

In September 2019, high court handed the building back to MC and permitted then to shift the offices of mayor and deputy mayor to the building. The court had also directed that the rest of the building be used for a high-end café with reading facilities, a boutique of traditional arts and crafts and an information centre to attract tourists and to generate revenue for the corporation.

Built in 1908 by Scottish architect James Ransone in Gothic style, the Town Hall is a half-timbered Tudor style house with wooden frames and shingles eaves and was used as a library along with several public utility houses It was later handed over to the MC after independence.