Karachi: Karachi’s Administrator Iftikhar Ali Shallwani has formally launched work to renovate and restore a 155-year-old colonial era building that is considered an iconic landmark of Karachi.
The project to renovate and restore the Frere Hall building in Karachi has been long overdue as the Sindh Government’s Planning and Development Department approved the plan in 2014. The project will be completed by next month.
Karachi’s Administrator said that services of an expert to restore the national heritage, Kaleemullah Lashari, had been availed to supervise the project.
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He said the Frere Hall building was fully open to citizens of Karachi along with its public library. He said a corner of the Frere Hall had also been reserved for holding preparatory classes for students studying to appear in the Central Superior Services Examinations to join the country’s elite civil bureaucracy.
He said that in the past the Frere Hall hosted diplomatic events to commemorate national days of Germany and Italy and this tradition would again be revived.
Shallwani said that after renovation, the Frere Hall would also hold an event to celebrate the upcoming birth anniversary of the Founder of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah on December 15.
He said the Frere Hall would again be utilised to host important public events in Karachi as in the past.
Shallwani said a consultant had been hired so that the historical and cultural importance of the building would be preserved.
He said Karachi’s city government would make efforts to restore all historical buildings to preserve the cultural heritage of Karachi to attract tourists.