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Victoria Public Hall, or the Town Hall, is a historical building in Chennai, named after Victoria, Empress of India. It is one of the finest examples of British architecture in Chennai and was built to commemorate the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria. It served as a theatre and public assembly room in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. It now houses the South Indian Athletic Association Club. ==History== In a meeting held in March 1882 at the Pachaiyappa's Hall in George Town by some leading citizens, the decision to construct a town hall for Madras was taken. This resulted in the mobilisation of a sum of 16,425 from around 30 persons who attended the meeting, and a 12-member trust was formed for the execution of the project. The municipal corporation leased a 57-ground (3.14 acres) site in the People's Park to the Victoria Public Hall Trust for 99 years effective from 1 April 1886 at a lease rent of eight annas a ground or 28 for the property. The then Maharajah of Vizianagaram, Sir Pusapati Ananda Gajapati Raju, laid the foundation stone for the new building on 17 December 1883, who also led a list of 35 donors for the construction work with a contribution of 10,000. The list included the Travancore Maharajah ( 8,000), Mysore Maharajah, Pudukottai Rajah and former Madras High Court Judge Muthuswamy Iyer (all 1,000 each) and P.Orr and Sons, a city-based watch company ( 1,400). Other contributors included Ramnad Raja Bhaskara Setupati, Zamindar of Ettiapuram and Hadji Abdul Batcha Sahib. It took about five years to complete the construction.〔 The hall, an example of the Indo-Saracenic architecture, was designed by Robert Fellowes Chisholm (1840-1915) in the Romanesque style and was built by Namperumal Chetty between 1888 and 1890. It was opened to public by Lord Connemara in 1887, although another version suggests that Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff, the governor of Madras during 1886-1890, declared open the hall. In January 1888, a citizens' meeting decided to name the hall after Queen Victoria. The then Municipal Corporation President Sir A.T. Arundale took the initiative. The hall soon become a venue of important public and social events. Several eminent personalities, including Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda, have visited the hall. National leaders like Swami Vivekananda, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Subramaniya Bharathi and Sardar Vallabhai Patel have addressed meetings in the hall. The pioneers of Tamil play, such as Sankaradoss Swamigal and Pammal Sambanda Mudaliar, have staged their plays at the hall. The Suguna Vilasa Sabha (SVS), founded in 1891, was most closely associated with the hall. It conducted the first evening drama shows in Madras. In October 1906, the play "Kaadalar Kangal" was staged at the hall. For the next 30 years, the Sabha remained at the hall and later, built its own theatre on acquisition of 36 grounds next to Christ Church on Anna Salai and now functions only as a social club.〔 It was here that the first cinema show was held in Chennai. T. Stevenson, proprietor of the Madras Photographic Store, ran some shows that consisted of ten short films. As the city grew southward and the medium of cinema acquired greater popularity, the building gradually went out of public attention. The lease expired in 1985 and a legal battle ensued as the Corporation did not want to extend the lease. With a compromise being reached in the matter, a petition to that effect was submitted in the court and decision was taken to take action against sub-leases. The land of the hall was occupied by several organisations before the 2010 renovation. The Andhra Mahila Sabha was functioning from a building behind the hall. The building occupied 5.25 grounds of land belonging to Victoria Public Hall. The building was demolished as part of the 2010 renovation.〔 Hotel Picnic, a private hotel, had acquired 13 grounds from the Victoria Public Hall Trust through a sub-lease that expired on April 30, 1985. The hotel has been paying a monthly rent of 4,000 to the corporation. In 2010, the Supreme Court ordered the hotel to handover the land to the Corporation of Chennai. About 32 shops that had encroached upon the land belonging to the hall were also removed as part of the renovation.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Victoria Public Hall」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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