Esplanade Mansion to get a lease of life

The historic Esplanade Mansion in Kala Ghoda-Fort area of Mumbai is all set to get a new lease of life. The Esplanade Mansion, earlier the Watson Hotel, was Bombay's first luxury hotel.

It is here that the famous Lumeire Brothers showcased six films - marking the beginning of Indian film industry. The restoration and conservation plan is expected to cost somewhere in the range of Rs 50 crore.

The owner of the over 150-year-old building, Sadik Ali Mohammed Ali, has appointed conservation architect, Chetan Raikar, as one of the consultants for restoration work, the Bombay High Court was informed.

A division bench comprising Justice S J Kathawalla and Justice R I Chagla, has given two week's time for a proper plan to be tabled and posted the next hearing on 18 March. The 155-year-old building, which is now in a dilapidated condition, is one of the earliest surviving cast-iron structures.

The building is located along the "Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai" that has been inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage Site and is also listed in the "100 World Endangered Monuments" by the World Monuments Fund, a New York-based NGO.

The building is listed as a Grade II–A heritage structure by the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation.

The Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board (MBRRB) of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) declared it "dilapidated" in 2007, after which the tenants - mostly lawyers - had moved the Bombay High Court.

The court has now asked the tenants to vacate, which has happened, and now the area is barricaded.

Esplanade Mansion (earlier Watson Hotel) has about 130 tenants, of which 45 are residential and the rest commercial. There is a paan shop, stationery shops on the ground floor and also the famous Army Restaurant, an Irani café.

Named after its original owner, John Watson, the building was fabricated in England and constructed on-site between 1860 and 1863.

It was designed by the civil engineer Rowland Mason Ordish, who was also associated with the St Pancras Station in London.

The external cast-iron frame closely resembles other high-profile 19th century buildings, such as London's Crystal Palace. The Watson's Hotel closed in 1960 and has changed hands any times since then. Most of the tenants are lawyers and law firms as the building is situated next to the Mumbai Sessions Court and a few metres away from the Bombay High Court.