The iconic David Sassoon Library and Reading Room at Kala Ghoda was restored and handed over to the trust looking after it in a grand ceremony on Friday. The restoration took 16 months and involved rehousing nearly 30,000 books, reconstruction of the original sloping roof, recreation of Minton flooring, furniture, pre-electricity ambience and restoration of stone-surfaced exteriors and interiors, and having lighting that makes the structure more interactive.
The handing-over ceremony took place in the presence of Sangita Jindal, chairperson of JSW Foundation and conceptualiser and implementer of the project; Abha Narain Lambah, lead conservation architect of the restoration project; Sanjay Datta, president, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth; Hemant Bhalekar, president, David Sassoon Library and Reading Room Committee; Kobbi Shoshani, Consul General of Israel in Mumbai; Brinda Miller, director, Kala Ghoda Association; and Solomon Sopher, nominated member of the Jewish community and represents Sassoon in the Sassoon Library, besides many library members and patrons. JSW and ICICI were the chief funders of the Rs4 crore restoration work, which started in January 2022.
A grade 1 heritage structure, the David Sassoon building was erected between 1867 and 1870. The funds for it were provided by Baghdadi Jew and philanthropist David Sassoon, the public and the government. It cost Rs1.25 lakh and was made by architects J Campbell and DE Costling in Victorian Gothic and Art Deco ensembles.
Back then, the building was to accommodate the Bombay Mechanics Institution that was founded and functioned in the city since 1847. After housing the institutions, the place was reconstituted in 1873 as the Sassoon Mechanics Institute. “Around 1923, the Sassoon Mechanics was changed to David Sassoon Library, keeping in mind the need for a library. The mechanics probably shifted to Sassoon docks as mostly there were engineers,” said Bhalekar.
An only structure in the locality, it first went for major repairs in the 1960s when the pitched roof was demolished and an RCC structure came up in its place. For restoration, it was decided to get back the original roof. “I have seen a similar roof inside the Bloomberg library at Harvard University. We Indians should restore what we have and own the heritage, else this will go and a skyscraper will come. We will make a corpus and maintain it better than Bloomberg. I hope the committee maintains the structure well,” said Jindal.
“While restoring the roof, we ensured there was no leakage, removed salt and undertook facade coating with a bio-sensitive product that does not damage the stone. In case of lighting, pre-electrification gas-lit ambience was restored and the external facade was lit to make it more interactive but not excessively lit,” said Lambah.
“In the last two decades, the library has welcomed me and millions of people with open doors, especially during the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. Following its restoration, we believe it can be the fulcrum of Mumbai’s education and cultural movement,” said Jindal. Miller said that she hoped to have more events during the Kala Ghoda festival at the library. “Collaborating for its restoration is part of our efforts to contribute towards preserving a rich culture and heritage of the city,” said Datta.
Echoing similar views, Shoshani said that he was thankful for the opportunity to be part of the restoration work. He said that efforts were made to ensure that Jewish heritage is revived in the city and they were being part of it.
