Church restoration project may be shelved

SHIMLA: The ambitious project of the Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation to restore and conserve two landmark heritage structures, the Christ Church and the Catholic Church, faces the threat of being shelved with there being divisions among the Christian community over the management of the exhaustive work.

The cornerstone of Christ Church was laid on September 8, 1844, and it was opened for the first divine service on October 11, 1846. It was built out of stone and brick in lime mortar by Col JT Boileau in Neo-Gothic elements. This was the first proper church built by the British Government

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 22

The ambitious project of the Department of Tourism and Civil Aviation to restore and conserve two landmark heritage structures, the Christ Church and the Catholic Church, faces the threat of being shelved with there being divisions among the Christian community over the management of the exhaustive work.

The Rs 15-crore restoration and conservation project to save the Catholic Church, located near the Army Training Command, and the Christ Church on The Ridge had been proposed. The restoration work of the two-century-old churches was part of second phase of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) project. The Tourism Department had roped in renowned conservation architects, structural engineers, stone conservation specialists and stained glass and pipe organ conservators to restore the original structure in these churches.

“A sum of Rs 7.50 crore had been approved for the restoration of the Christ Church on The Ridge, but at the time of signing the MoU for the execution of the work, two factions of the Christian community staked claim that the management of the church was with them,” revealed an official. With the threat of one of the two factions moving court looming large, the project is likely to be shelved.

In case of the Catholic Church near the Deputy Commissioner office, the move to conserve the structure has been dropped as the structure can collapse. “Though we have consulted structural engineers and experts, the threat of a collapse is high,” said an official. The department has been advised that there is dire need to address the structural problem before architectural and aesthetic issues are taken up.

With cracks appearing on the monolithic columns, floor and chancel arch of the Catholic Church, the load bearing retaining wall in the South-West portion of the church, built between 1927 and 1930, has become vulnerable. Structural and geo-technical experts from IIT, Chennai, had inspected the site and recommended certain measures, failing which the entire structure could collapse.

Prof RJ Vasavda, a renowned conservation expert from the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) was also consulted for the restoration work. Tapan K Das from Hurry Brothers, Kolkata, had been entrusted with the task of restoring the non-functional 1901 pipe organ, which formed part of the original St Michael and St Joseph Churches built in 1885 by Lord Ripon.

The entire roof component consisting of a wooden ceiling, trusses and stone gutters of the Catholic Church need complete repair as there is a lot of leakage. As a result, some wooden elements have weathered.

The Tourism Department had even got a complete documentation of all churches and cemeteries in Himachal done with the objective of attracting tourists from Britain. There are some old churches at places like Shimla, Kasauli, McLeodganj and Dalhousie.