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| 144 year bl;dg. gutted.secunderabad club .indiatoday.in |
The secunderabad club established in 1878 was housed in a 144 year heritage building owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad. It served as a club for the British officers (then called garrison club) initially and later for the civilian British workers ( called United Services Club) employed in the princely state of Nizam. It is one of five oldest clubs in India and presently, its members are mostly military officers and police personnel and the membership is around 8000. Last year in January it was up in flames because of a fire mishap and the gloom descended on this locality had stayed for some time. Once a glorious building now looks like a bare skeleton.
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| Fire mishap at .secunderabad club indiatimes.com |
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| 144 year bl;dg. gutted.secunderabad club twitter |
Unfortunately there was a big fire mishap in the wee hours of the 15th of January, 2022, and the massive fire completely gutted the 144-year-old historic main building. Very much affected were the club's Colonnade Bar, billiards room and the administration office.The invaluable collections in the main hall of the 144-year-old grand club building were consumed in the leaping flames. It is quite saddening that every heritage piece in the billiard room and in the colonnade bar was lost. Everything including the old billiard table, hunting trophies, old chandeliers, fine pieces of old furniture, regimental coast arms were reduced to ashes and every one of them is more than 110 years old. All the vestiges of past era were up in flame and disappeared in a whif, leaving behind ashes, cinder and broken burnt pieces of wood, etc. Their redemption is an impossibility. Lost in the massive inferno were priceless antique items collected over a long span of time. Its imposing building in hill station style had murals painted by M.M. Kaye of the Far Pavilions fame.
The building may be worth Rs, 20 crores. What about the antique items? Can yo get them back? The fire service department said short-circuit could be the cause of the fire. We can only see this 144-year-old historic heritage structure of splendor and beauty in the photos and images.
For the history and heritage lovers, the loss of this old building is a bad news as this building had been well-maintained by the club members. No body would have ever thought about its destruction so soon. Lost in the flame is the legacy of the princely state ruler Nizam who had set aside a building exclusively to run the club for their relaxation and fun.
