Mumbai: The BMC has announced that it will develop the sports complex adjoining the well-known Cannon and other food stalls in the vicinity of its headquarters into a Town Hall Gymkhana building. The civic body has floated a tender for the construction of this building.
Besides the town hall, the structure will also have a glass dome, viewing gallery, glass capsule lift, rooftop cafeteria, and parking facilities. Visitors to the city will have an opportunity to get a panoramic view of the entire heritage area, including Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and BMC headquarters, through the building. Meanwhile, the BMC will build a well-equipped and modern municipal sports complex for its employees at Tulsiwadi near Mahalaxmi racecourse.
According to BMC, the area around the CSMT and BMC headquarters, which is a heritage precinct, is a major tourist attraction for people coming to Mumbai from different parts of the country and abroad. This area is rich in heritage, architecture, and culture and has a historical ground such as Azad Maidan. Besides, a station of Metro 3 has now been added to this location.
A few years ago, the civic body set up a selfie point in front of the headquarters to view the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and the BMC Headquarters building. However, there were no facilities to get a panoramic view of the entire area. Therefore, the civic body decided to develop the sports building into a Town Hall Gymkhana building, as per the instructions of municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani.
For the first time in the city, a town hall is being built for citizens, which will enable them to have a proper place for civic interaction.
The entire building will be of ground floor plus five floors, keeping in view the height of the surrounding heritage buildings, so that the beauty and scale of these heritage buildings are not disturbed in any way. Besides the town hall, a state-of-the-art restaurant has also been proposed, and the building will also accommodate parking facilities for about 60 vehicles in two basements, which will resolve the problem of parking in this area.