Lack of funds might stall Fort’s conservation

LAHORE: The restoration and conservation work at Sheikhupura Fort may not start in time due to the lack of funds on the part of the Ministry of Culture which has agreed to contribute 16 per cent of the project cost.

Officials told The Express Tribune that the Federal Archeology Department of the Ministry of Culture and the US Embassy have signed an agreement for restoration and conservation of the Sheikhupura Fort to be completed in three years’ time. US Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation (Large Grants Programme) has approved $1 million for the project while the Ministry of Culture will have to contribute $190,000 to the project under the agreement. Normally, in such conservation and restoration projects all the expenditures are borne by the donor while the department just provides technical support.

“The work on the project was to be started in September or October of this year but there are no funds available with the Ministry of Culture or the Archaeology Department under the Sheikhupura Fort project. This can delay the project for a considerable time,” a senior official of the Archaeology Department told The Express Tribune. The amount reserved for the restoration and conservation of Sheikhupura Fort is the largest amount to be allocated for the restoration of an archaeological site in Pakistan by the US so far. US Ambassador Anne W Patterson visited the site in the last week of August while US Consulate General Carmela Conroy has also visited the site along with Archeology Department officials.

The work on the project will be completed in three phases. The first phase of the project will focus on the preservation, stabilisation and consolidation of the fortification and the gateway. The project will seek to preserve the Sikh Haveli (royal mansion) which houses fresco paintings. By focusing on preservation, this phase will prevent further deterioration and repair brick masonry while shoring up endangered and dilapidated structures. The first phase will also establish conservation testing and documentation.

The second phase of the project will move from preservation to restoration of the fort. The work will include restoration of missing terracotta lattice work, and repairs to the wooden gate and other woodwork.

The third and final stage of the project will focus on protecting and promoting the site. The work will include illumination of the entire site, landscaping and the development of tourist facilities, according to the executive summary of the project.

“A fundamental purpose of the project is the re-opening of the site to make it accessible to the public. The authorities plan to open it to the public only after the preservation and protection phases of the work are successfully completed on the entire project site. Some areas will be open for educational tours during the reconstruction. These tours will be limited to architecture, archaeology and history student groups,” a senior official told The Express Tribune.

The fort was built by Emperor Jahangir in the early 17th century as part of a recreational park and royal hunting resort. According to the records of the Archeology Department, the fort provided shelter and was a campsite on several occasions for Emperor Jahangir and later for his son Emperor Shahjahan.

In 1808, the fort came under Ranjit Singh’s control after remaining in the control of rival Sikh clans earlier. It was used as a transit camp by Ranjit Singh’s last queen for a brief time.

At the end of the Sikh period, the fort was used by the British as a prison.

The fort served as an administrative headquarters from 1849 until 1851 and later served as a military outpost and police headquarters. The fort was again recognised as a national monument after Independence and was declared a protected monument under the Antiquity Act of 1975.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2010.