Administrator stays decision of converting oldest theatre into commercial space

The committee’s basic purpose is to protect and conserve heritage of City Beautiful.

“Hon’ble administrator in the interest of conservation of heritage of Chandigarh city has decided to stay the proceedings of Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee meeting dated 14.09.2023 regarding allowing adaptive commercial reuse of Kiran Cinema, Sector 22, Chandigarh,” said a statement issued by the Administrator’s office.

It was added, “Hon’ble Administrator in his decision has conveyed that the decision regarding Kiran Cinema may be kept in abeyance and no action be taken by any department on issue of Kiran Cinema till further orders as the issue requires further examination and consultation. Administrator directed that all the views by the members of Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee should be duly noted in the proceedings before taking any decision.”

Decision by the committee

As per the minutes of the meeting, it was said that commercial use may be allowed in the heritage Kiran Cinema.

“The Committee noted the facts that property in question is essentially a property of commercial nature, which was acquired by the owner through public auction on freehold basis for using it as Cinema. The Committee unanimously recommended that while preserving the Building’s Heritage Value & historical significance, it was agreed that retrofitting & adaptive commercial reuse may be allowed, as per the existing building bylaws,” the minutes said.

The matter was discussed in the meeting and it was said that “it was brought to the knowledge of the Committee about a reference received from the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India, referring to announcements made by Union Home Minister in respect of Chandigarh, wherein it was intimated that the Heritage Conservation Committee in UT of Chandigarh is engaged in the work of preparing a list of heritage buildings and the Home Minister has directed that this should not have any adverse impact on the private properties and if some private properties are declared heritage, there should be adequate compensatory provisions.”

It also said that “it was also brought to the knowledge of the Committee that the Chandigarh Administration constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Finance Secretary-cum-Secretary Estates, Chandigarh Administration consisting of Deputy Commissioner-cum-Estate Officer, Joint Secretary Estates, Chief Engineer and Chief Architect, UT, as members in the year 2015.”

The reference had said, “Where Government has notified to preserve a privately owned property in its original form, on account of its inherent heritage value, the owner if he so desires, will be offered alternative site (s) of same area, having similar commercial potential in case it is a commercial site or at a premium location in case of a residence, to swap with plus compensation to construct the same floor spaces as in the building to be preserved (sic).”

It was also said that in this case on the request of Chandigarh Administration, the Under Secretary, MHA, GoI, vide its various letters has sought comments from the Secretary, Ministry of Culture, GoI regarding “feasibility of enlisting of private buildings of the UT Chandigarh as heritage building in accordance with the statutes / guidelines and in the event of such enlisting the protection of rights / interests of the individual owners”.

The comments in the same from the Ministry of Culture are still awaited.

Former chief architect Sumit Kaur stated in the meeting “that this was the first movie theatre at the inception of the City and Heritage Committee in its report has enlisted as heritage structure and Sector 22 where this Cinema Hall is located has been graded as Heritage Grade-I, therefore, its heritage value be retained.”

However, Professor Rajnish Wattas stated that since this is a private property, hence commercial activity be allowed to make the proposal viable. Both members recommended that no change in the façade of the building shall be allowed, it was said.