Who will get the US Club?

In the two years that it lay vacant,the building suffered a lot of neglect and damage,with its windows broken,roof leaking and furniture misused.

Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu inspected the building earlier this week. She was accompanied by a team of engineers and architects. “The building is in a shambles. We cannot just sit on the issue. We are going to submit a detailed proposal to the chief minister,” she told The Indian Express.

The tourism department has assured that the building will be restored to its past glory. “The building found a mention in our book,Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai. We plan to make it a big tourist attraction in the coming years,” said Arun Sharma,Director,Tourism. He added that a portion of the building could be developed as a museum.

The funding is expected to come from the recent grant of Rs 454 crore given by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for upgrade of tourism infrastructure in the state.

The chief secretary,however,adds that it is not final yet that the building will go to the tourism department. There are other departments,too,that have submitted requests to occupy this building.

The Himachal IAS officers Association has,meanwhile,written to the government to provide the building to set up a ‘services club’ on the lines of a few other states.

The building has witnessed several historic events. It served as the club house of top military and civil officers who used to come to Shimla on temporary postings during the British rule. Colonel J D Campbell was the club’s first president. In the 1940s,when the Partition plan was being finalised,US Club was the venue for several meetings of the boundary commission.