President of India to inaugurate restored Clock Towers at Presidents Estate
The President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee will inaugurate two restored Clock Towers on July 24 and 25, 2015 respectively at the Presidents Estate to mark the completion of the third year of Presidency. These clock Towers in Schedule A and Schedule B areas of Rashtrapati Bhavanare heritage structures built by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1924 and 1925 respectively. The Schedule A Clock Tower was built as an Institute for men of the President Body Guardand had reading and recreational rooms, canteens, etc. Since, 1947, it has been occupied by the President Body Guard as its Regimental Head Quarter.
The Schedule B Clock Tower was known in the past as Band House and used for residential purposes. Both the Clock Towers are centrally located in the avenue which runs diagonally and is part of the original design intent of Lutyens.
The clock system installed in the tower at Schedule A is inscribed with the name Pulsynetic, which indicates that its manufacturer was Gent and Company of Leicester, UK. The Gent and Companys electric clocks adorn many important buildings around the world.
The clock system installed in the tower at Schedule B is inscribed with the name J.B. Joyce & Co. Ltd, Whitchurch 1924. The J.B. Joyce & Co. clocks also adorn many important buildings around the world.
Restoration work of both the Clock Towers has been done by INTACH while repair of Clocks has been done by IIT, Delhi. The buildings were precisely documented and analyzed prior to the restoration work. The restoration undertaken includes preservation of original plaster, Kota stone flooring, repair of conical obelisks, cleaning and painting of fire places etc. as per original design.
