Old faces: Pak Tea House set to open next week

The restaurant was once known as a hangout for intellectuals.


Rameez Khan February 28, 2013
The place has been renovated at a cost of Rs 8.5 million, with a seating capacity for 50 to 60 people. PHOTO: FILE

LAHORE:


The Pak Tea House project, which has missed several opening deadlines, is likely to be inaugurated next week, The Express Tribune has learnt.


Work on this eatery started a year ago after the city district government got possession of the building from former lessee Zahid Hussain in February. The place was known as a hangout for intellectuals.

Hussain, who had earlier closed the tea shop and turned it into a warehouse for tyres, had gone to the court to stop the government from taking the land possession.

After the stay was vacated in July and the building’s renovation began. A lease agreement for 11 months was signed between the YMCA General Secretary Samuel Pervez and Data Ganj Bukhsh Town Administrator Saira Afzal. The lease may be extended indefinitely if the Pak Tea House remains in business. The CDGL would pay Rs10,000 as monthly rent. There is no clause in the lease agreement for an annual increase.



The place has been renovated at a cost of Rs 8.5 million, with a seating capacity for 50 to 60 people. The façade has been restored to the original design. There are plans for putting up pictures of intellectuals who used to visit this tea house. A 30KVA generator is also being installed to ensure an uninterrupted power supply.

The renovation work was slowed down in August and October as the contractor’s bills were not cleared. The work was completed in January. The CDGL wants the place to be inaugurated by some prominent person.

The CDGL has also decided to get a tyre shop next to the Pak Tea House to be added to the tea house. Haji Sheikh Asghar, who owns the shop, has obtained a stay order from a court against the plan. CDGL officials have also tried negotiating with Asghar but failed.

The project incharge and Staff Officer to Chief Minister Khawaja Imran Raza told The Express Tribune the tea house inauguration was likely next week.

He said the government wanted to provide an outdoor seating by acquiring the tyre shop. He said the tea house would initially be run by the CDGL. Later, its management would be outsourced.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2013.

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