This huge Indo-Saracenic building is named after Lord Ripon, who was the Governor General and the father of Self-Government in India. This building is the seat of the Chennai Corporation, the oldest city Corporation in India.
The Ripon Building is white in colour and is located near the Central station in Chennai. Commissioned in 1913, it was built by Loganatha Mudaliar. The Building took four years to build at a cost of 750,000 Rupees. Ripon building was named after Lord Ripon, Governor-General of British India and the Father of local self-government. Earl of Minto, the then Viceroy and Governor General of India laid the foundation on December 12, 1909.The Municipal Corporation of Madras, after functioning from several other places, settled at Ripon building in 1913, with P.L. Moore as the President of the Municipal Corporation at the time of the inauguration.
Building details
• The building is rectangular and is 85 meters long and 32 metres wide.
• The first of its three floors offers about 2,800 square metres of space.
• Its central tower is 43 metres tall and has a clock 2.5 metres in diameter.
• The walls were constructed with stock bricks, set and plastered with lime mortar.
• The roofs are supported with teak wood joists. The original flooring of the ground floor was Cuddapah Slate. This has now been replaced with marble.
• One of the main attractions of the building is the Westminster Quarter chiming clock. This was installed by Oakes and Co. in 1913. The clock has a mechanical key system, which is wound every day. There are a total of 4 bells, which were cast by Gillet and Johnston in 1913.
The attractive white structure, close to Chennai Central, has dimension 252 ft. by 126 ft rectangular shape. This classic structure, presently the headquarters of Chennai Corporation, is a blending of three types of architectural styles - Gothic, Ironic and Corinthian. To support the huge structure, the walls have been erected with stock bricks, composed and plastered in lime mortar. Teak wood pillars support the roofs. The Cuddapah stone flooring has been re-laid with marble in the ground floor. The flooring on the first and second levels is with the pressed terracotta variety. A mighty clock of 8 feet diameter and a tall tower of 132 ft jewel the building. The clock is equipped with a mechanical key system, which is to be wound every day. This is a classic structure worth seeing.
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