British era heritage building, ‘Bantony Castle’ which was once the summer palace of rulers of Sirmaur was vested with Himachal’s Department of Language, Art and Culture in the revenue record, ending the decades old struggle of the government.
All formalities and the change in status of the ownership of the property located on the Kali Bari road on The Mall were completed on Saturday, leading to change of board from ‘Private Property to ‘This property belongs to the Department of Language, Art and Culture’.
The registry of the Bantony Castle was done in the office of the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Shimla (Urban), at a sum of Rs.27.84 crore (27,84,65,947), on Sunday.
On January 4, the state cabinet had approved the acquisition of ‘Bantony Castle’ and its conversion into museum.
‘Bantony Castle’ would be refurbished with a museum to be set up at that place and it would house a recreational park with a restaurant.
The British era building stands as one of the premium properties of Shimla as it is located on the core Mall Road between Scandal Point and Kali Bari Temple.
Like other historic British era buildings of Shimla, Bantony Castle's architectural style is part mock-Tudor and part chalet, crowned with sloping roofs and mini-towers. The estate was designed by architect TEG Cooper and the place had a rickety cottage belonging to Captain A Gordon, which housed army officers before its construction in 1880. This building has also served as a palace of the Maharaja of Sirmaur.
The estate shares its western boundary with the Grand Hotel which is also one of the historically important buildings to Shimla and was built during the British Era.
Since Independence, successive state governments in Himachal have tried to acquire the British era building in 1968, 1975, 1986, and 2004.
The present Congress government after coming to power in 2012 had again started the process to acquire the property amid opposition by owners of the property. The government had also carried out Social Impact Assessment study before the acquisition.