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10/02/2022
The rise, fall, and the false rise of the Marie building
Marie building, also known as the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall), was built in 1871. Since then, the building housed the Mayor of Pondicherry, the local assembly, the municipal council, office of the registrar of births and deaths. The French voted for the assembly elections in Paris in 1871 from the Marie building which is seen as the first sign of democracy in this part of the world. Every major political incident from the late 19th century took place at the Marie. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, the former prime minister of India, addressed the Pondicherry assembly at the Marie building after independence. The building also housed the first Pondicherry legislative assembly from 1964 to 1969 before it shifted to the present premises in 1969.
The ground floor of the building was used as the Mayor's office, while the first floor, the central hall, was used for conducting civic receptions, music concerts, dance performances, and marriages. The elected civic body coordinates the receptions with the Mayor presiding over the functions.
A building with such historical importance for the Pondicherry government and the people of Pondicherry collapsed in November 2014 due to prolonged negligence. The intervention for restoration was too late, which resulted in the loss of one of the important heritage buildings of the town.
After the fall of the Marie building, a proposal for reconstructing the Marie building with the same architectural features was put forth by different stakeholders in the town. But this time, the PWD and the INTACH team had different opinions on the construction method.
The PWD proposed the reinforced concrete structure, while the INTACH team and heritage enthusiasts proposed a traditional construction method with lime mortar and madras terrace roofing.
Finally, in 2021, the new Marie building constructed with RCC was inaugurated by the honorable Prime minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi.
The rebuilding of Marie with the same architectural features but different construction techniques reminds us of fake conservation of heritage. In fact, after reconstruction, it is not even part of the heritage.
But the reconstruction of the Marie building satisfied the people of Pondicherry since they had an emotional connection of registering and celebrating their marriages in the central hall.
Marie building taught us a hard-hitting lesson that timely restoration is needed to conserve the heritage of Pondicherry, and negligence is costly, not just in terms of money but losing a piece of history along with the building.
Since this incident, nothing much has changed over the years to conserve the heritage of the Pondicherry. Robust initiatives are required to save the heritage buildings from deterioration and demolition. Fingers crossed. Let us hope that the fate of the Marie building doesn't happen to other heritage buildings like Raj Nivas in the town.
