Conservation best way to preserve heritage

While admitting that conservation efforts had found few individual takers due to the costs incurred, Rao stressed that the work had to be approached as a capital investment in a structure that has been overlooked for over a 100 years. “It has to be looked upon as the repair and maintenance component of any household budget, and how it would benefit the monument on a long-term basis,” he said.

According to Rao, Vadodara had “phenomenal urban architectural value, giving a newcomer a feeling of the city being a very opulent place”. “But it is also very dusty, which is all the why the buildings here need conservation. Dust is the primary corrosive element working on over a century old structures,” he added.

The ACC’s conservation cell was set up five years ago “with a view to employ its state-of-the art technical facilities and team of 500 scientists and specialists from various fields in conservation efforts in association with experts in the field,” Rao said.

ACC has recently restored the main gate of the Laxmi Vilas Palace as a part of the third National Convention of the Indian Institute of Interior Designers. Among the major projects being currently handled by the Cell are the restoration of the Maheshwar Fort in Madhya Pradesh and the 400-year-old Mount Chapel Church in Goa.