Country India Town or city Kolkata | Elevation 9.509 m Construction started 1905 | |
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Former names Whiteway Laidlaw department store Status Used as a residential and a commercial building. Address 7, Jawaharlal Nehru Road Current tenants Life Insurance Corporation of India & houses many offices & stores such as Big Bazaar & the Central Cottage Industry Showroom. The upper floors are occupied by innumerable tenants residing in box like quarters. Similar Metcalfe Hall, Everest House, Sabarna Sangrahashala, East Bengal Ground, Magen David Synagogue | ||
Metropolitan Building (Bengali: মেট্রোপলিটান বিল্ডিং) is the number 46.26 building on Jawaharlal Nehru Road in Kolkata near Esplanade. Formerly known as the Whiteway Laidlaw department store, it was a famous department store in Calcutta during the British Rule in India. This neo-baroque emporium—with domes, a clock tower, and arched recessed windows—exemplifies fashionable shopping during the British Raj in British India. The building was built in 1905. Post Independence Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. assumed ownership, so people know it more commonly as Metropolitan Building.
Contents
- Map of Metropolitan Building SN Banerjee Road New Market Area Dharmatala Taltala Kolkata West Bengal 700013
- Features
- Destruction
- Renovation
- Gallery
- References
Map of Metropolitan Building, SN Banerjee Road, New Market Area, Dharmatala, Taltala, Kolkata, West Bengal 700013
It is located near the Shaheed Minar and the Grand Hotel.
Features
It is a large building recognisable by its corner tower with the dome raised high on a pavilion. Rustication in the ground floor and a semicircular arched arcade in the first floor. The facade is punctuated by a series of projected and pedimented bays with plain columns and Corinthian capitals. Repaired recently, the Metropolitan Building still stands as an important landmark overlooking the crowded Chowringhee.
Destruction
In 1991, a fire ravaged the top floor of the majestic Metropolitan Building and hundreds of original negatives of Bourne and Shepherd, reputed to be the world’s oldest operational photography studio, established in the late 19th century, perished in the fire.
Renovation
The building was restored by the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). But it still houses a commercial complex. The building was freshly repainted with white and golden paint and its exterior structure was also renovated while making extensive changes within.