Heritage vs modernity

Heritage vs modernity
Deccan Herald

It is among the important arterial roads of the City and a vital link between South Bangalore and Cantonment, especially for those commuting to MG Road, Brigade Road and St Marks Road.

Residency Road was renamed Field Marshal Cariappa Road more than a decade ago, but its former name still prevails.

It is among the important arterial roads of the City and a vital link between South Bangalore and Cantonment, especially for those commuting to MG Road, Brigade Road and St Marks Road. The road is characterised by heavy traffic despite been made into a one-way road. Fortunately for the pedestrians one of the eight skywalks in Bangalore is located on this road, near Bishop Cotton Boys’ School.

Stretching all the way from the busy Richmond Circle (where the flyover from Kengal Hanumanthaiah Road ends) it joins MG Road near Mayo Hall. The Road is intersected by Brigade Road and St Mark’s Road before it joins MG Road.

In recent times, Residency Road is best known for a number of pubs such Down Town, The Bunker, Cyber Pub, The Pub World, Baywatch Pub and restaurant and Purple Haze. It has a number of business hotels including Taj Gateway Residency, The Chancery, Ballal Residency and Park Residency. Until recently, the road used to be the address for three legendary cinema theatres - Galaxy, Opera House and Imperial - all slowly being replaced by malls. Cash Pharmacy, a popular heritage building has been demolished to make way for a new building.

Some of the City’s best known and oldest landmarks such as the Bangalore Club, the Bishop Cotton Boys’ School, the Good Shepherd Convent, Sacred Heart Girls’ High School, St Joseph’s College and the Mayo Hall are located on this road.

The Mayo Hall is a brick and mortar structure built as a memorial to Lord Mayo from a fund instituted in 1874. The construction of the building started in 1875 and was completed in 1883. It was inaugurated in 1903 by Sir James Bourdillion, the then Resident of Mysore.

Meetings of the municipal commission of the erstwhile Bangalore Cantonment were being held in the Mayo Hall since 1883. The Bangalore Central, a mall, located opposite Mayo Hall was originally the location of the Victoria Hotel located at the junction of Residency Road and Commissariat Road.

Another historical building is the Good Shepherd Convent. Interestingly, one of the buildings in the premises was once a jail for the thugs. Though they operated in North India, for security reasons some of them were brought to Bangalore. The St Patrick’s Church was built between 1841 and 1844 for the Irish soldiers by Gail-Hot, a military chaplain with a grant of Rs 4,000 to which he added another Rs 4,000. It was rebuilt between 1894 and 1898 at a cost of Rs 1.5 lakhs. The Bangalore Club, one of the most prestigious clubs in the City, had as one of its members a subaltern, Winston Churchill who later on became the prime minister of Britain.

Another distinct building is the magnificent St Joseph’s College buildings. The stately mansions that once dotted the road have all disappeared. Late Justice H G Balakrishna, used to live in a bungalow on this road. The mansions and bungalows have all disappeared. The mansions and bungalows have been replaced by tall buildings.

Residency Road seems to be having the same problems that is plaguing the other roads and streets of Bangalore. There is no place to park the vehicles. Traffic and pollution is intense - a result of the rapid growth of the City.