It has taken the Royal Bombay Yacht Club more than 160 years to travel from boats to atoms.
It has taken the Royal Bombay Yacht Club more than 160 years to travel from boats to atoms.
The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) will soon open a science museum for the public at the club in Apollo Bunder. It will showcase the history of the Atomic Energy Commission.
The club, founded in 1846, was used for leisurely sails to and from Mandwa. The museum will be on the ground floor, which once housed the Time and Talents Club and the Victory Stall. The stall that was famous for its Wednesday Dhansak and daily Parsi delicacies.
The spring action dance floor — the original ballroom where ladies danced the night away with uniformed escorts — will now host sober official conferences of the commission. And it will have a new name, The Hall of Pride.
“We wanted to restore the club to its old glory,” said SK Malhotra, head of public awareness, DAE. “The facade now resembles the 19th century drawings by architect John Adams, thanks to our conservation architects Somaya and Kalappa India (Pvt) Ltd.” Malhotra said the Port Trust of India (Mumbai) leased the building in 1953 to the DAE for 99 years.
A few years ago when authorities tried to bring down the building, conservationists intervened and saved the building. “That action led to the first campaign in Mumbai to prevent and preserve old heritage buildings. It woke up the city to the importance of preserving architectural heritage,” said Brinda Somaya, managing director and principal architect of Somaya and Kalappa.
Somaya said the existing wood was recycled and contemporary material used to restore the building. “It’s always a challenge to make an old building functional for the contemporary user,” she said.
Besides restoring the spring action dance floor, two stained-glass rosette window depicting six zodiac signs were restored. “Another interesting feature is the watch tower where guests and club members lined up to flag off boat races. Now, it will be used by the DAE staff and visitors to see the Apollo Bunder,” she said.
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