September 9, 2014
WB Govt to set up a cinema centenary campus at Tollygunge
The state government has decided to set upa cinema centenary campus to house an archive and a museum of films at Tollygunge.The lack of a proper museum and archive prompted the decision to keep a recordof films that have already been released.
The proposed cinema centenary campus willbe an eight-storied building, which will be set up on an area totalling 60,000square feet, beside MR Bangur Hospital in Tollygunge. It will also have aparking facility at the basement and there will be provisions for guest room toaccommodate artists who visit the state. The preliminary construction work hasbegun and the building should be completed within a year.
In addition to a museum for keeping the oldfilms, a library will also be set where DVD's of old films will be kept. Thecinema centenary campus previously had two floors, to which another six floorshave been added. The museum will have advanced light-and-sound equipment.
The entire area covers about two acres andan open space has been left inside, that has been beautifully landscaped. Whileworking on the renovation, the first thing that the authorities kept in mindwas to set up proper fire fighting arrangements. Keeping this in mind, gates onboth sides of the building have been designed keeping a space. Besides, fireextinguishers and other fire-fighting equipment have been installed.
In February 2014, Chief Minister Ms MamataBanerjee inaugurated the renovated Technician Studio in Tollygunge, which is overa century old. The studio was badly damaged by a fire a few years back and hasbeen renovated.
