Restoration of French heritage structure at Chandernagore will be completed soon: Ambassador Lenain

The Registry Building, a two-storied structure at Chandernagore built in 1875 and a symbol of French settlement of the colonial town, has been awaiting restoration for a long time.

The Registry Building, a two-storied structure at Chandernagore built in 1875 and a symbol of French settlement of the colonial town, has been awaiting restoration for a long time. Architects, heritage enthusiasts, State government officials and diplomats have on several occasion in the past few years visited the crumbling building located on the strand opposite Rani Ghat jetty on the banks of Hooghly and have assured about the restoration of the structure.

 French Ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain, who recently visited Kolkata, expressed hope that the restoration of the Registry Building was “moving forward nicely”. Emphasising that the structure needed an urgent facelift, the Ambassador said that restoration of the building would be completed in next two to three years. 

 There were plans for having a café, restaurant and a boutique hotel with the architectural principle that original structure remained unchanged. Mr. Lenain said that officials of French Institute in Delhi, officials of West Bengal government and experts were soon going to have a meeting to decide on the restoration. Architects from France and India were also working on the project and the French Embassy and government of West Bengal and other stakeholders had also identified a prominent hospitality group as a sponsor of the project.