‘Red Fort’ at Madras Medical College to reopen as museum
Serena Josephine M.
CHENNAI, AUGUST 01, 2018 00:00 IST
The Indo-Saracenic style building housed the Department of Anatomy for several decades.B. Jothi Ramalingam
121-year-old heritage building to showcase history of institute
To the east of Madras Medical College (MMC) stands a building referred to as ‘Red Fort’. The 121-year-old heritage building, which is currently being restored to its old glory, will soon turn into a museum.
Constructed in 1897, the red brick structure has been classified as a Grade I heritage building by the Justice E. Padmanabhan Committee on heritage structures. The Indo-Saracenic style building housed the Department of Anatomy for several decades.
“The building is a structure of grandeur. The idea is to renovate and preserve the heritage structure, and create a museum for students of schools and colleges,” said R. Jayanthi, dean of MMC and Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.
In 2013, the Department of Anatomy partially moved into the new MMC campus on the erstwhile central prison premises. In December 2017, the PWD began restoration work.
“The State government sanctioned Rs. 1.97 crore to restore the Anatomy Block to its old glory. Once the work is over, we intend to create a museum here. On the ground floor, we will showcase the history of MMC, while the first floor will have specimens for comparative anatomy,” said Sudha Seshayyan, Director, Anatomy, and Vice-Principal, MMC.
While specimens required for teaching anatomy to MBBS students were moved to the new campus, huge animal skeletons remained at the ‘Red Fort’.
“We are collecting materials that will help in tracing the history of MMC and have listed down nine to 10 broad areas. This includes exhibits on the life and contribution of renowned alumni. We are going to display old equipment used in the college,” she said.
Among the building’s distinctive features are sliding panels in the ceiling to adjust for lighting.A PWD official said a major portion of the restoration work is complete. “There were at least 30 to 40 cracks on the terrace, primarily due to ageing. We used a traditional mixture consisting of lime mortar, filter sand, ‘kadukkai’ and palm jaggery. This was allowed to soak for 15 days. The lime powder was brought from Virudhunagar ,” he explained.
Serena Josephine M.
CHENNAI, AUGUST 01, 2018 00:00 IST
The Indo-Saracenic style building housed the Department of Anatomy for several decades.B. Jothi Ramalingam
121-year-old heritage building to showcase history of institute
To the east of Madras Medical College (MMC) stands a building referred to as ‘Red Fort’. The 121-year-old heritage building, which is currently being restored to its old glory, will soon turn into a museum.
Constructed in 1897, the red brick structure has been classified as a Grade I heritage building by the Justice E. Padmanabhan Committee on heritage structures. The Indo-Saracenic style building housed the Department of Anatomy for several decades.
“The building is a structure of grandeur. The idea is to renovate and preserve the heritage structure, and create a museum for students of schools and colleges,” said R. Jayanthi, dean of MMC and Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.
In 2013, the Department of Anatomy partially moved into the new MMC campus on the erstwhile central prison premises. In December 2017, the PWD began restoration work.
“The State government sanctioned Rs. 1.97 crore to restore the Anatomy Block to its old glory. Once the work is over, we intend to create a museum here. On the ground floor, we will showcase the history of MMC, while the first floor will have specimens for comparative anatomy,” said Sudha Seshayyan, Director, Anatomy, and Vice-Principal, MMC.
While specimens required for teaching anatomy to MBBS students were moved to the new campus, huge animal skeletons remained at the ‘Red Fort’.
“We are collecting materials that will help in tracing the history of MMC and have listed down nine to 10 broad areas. This includes exhibits on the life and contribution of renowned alumni. We are going to display old equipment used in the college,” she said.
Among the building’s distinctive features are sliding panels in the ceiling to adjust for lighting.A PWD official said a major portion of the restoration work is complete. “There were at least 30 to 40 cracks on the terrace, primarily due to ageing. We used a traditional mixture consisting of lime mortar, filter sand, ‘kadukkai’ and palm jaggery. This was allowed to soak for 15 days. The lime powder was brought from Virudhunagar ,” he explained.
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