Protecting heritage: Lal Haveli might be sold to plaza developer

The WCLA is planning to buy the building and restore it.

LAHORE:

Lal Haveli, situated inside the Lohari Gate near Awami Bazaar, might be sold as a site for a commercial plaza, The Express Tribune has learnt. 

The Walled City of Lahore Authority officials recently met the haveli’s owner to discuss the possibility of turning it into a tourist spot or selling it to the WCLA.

The haveli is currently home to six families. Several shops have already been constructed in front of it. The four-storyed building has been divided into three parts: D-747, D-748 and D-749 (Lal Haveli).

WCLA Culture and Heritage Expert Talib Hussain told The Express Tribune that according to oral tradition, the Lal Haveli was built nearly 150 years ago. “But some historians and archaeologists believe that it was built by the Maharaja of Kashmir for his favourite courtesan Daru,” he said, “That is why it is also known as Daru’s Haveli. The year of its construction is not known.”

He said that the building was a residential structure that represented the vintage architecture of the Walled City. It had one of the best preserved cut-and-chase brickwork and plaster mouldings on a fair brick ground. The haveli was famous for its wooden jharokas, on three floors, that had been painted with hurmuchi (red ochre paint), “That’s why it’s called Lal Haveli,” he said.

Tania Qureshi, a communication expert at the WCLA, said, “Lal Haveli was home to a shoe manufacturing business a decade ago. While shoes are still manufactured in other parts of the haveli, plot D-749 (the present Lal Haveli) has been vacated due to its dilapidated state.”

Lal Haveli’s owner Nasir Jutt told The Express Tribune that he was selling the place because he needed the money. “I am currently negotiating with a potential buyer who wants to build a plaza on it,” he said.

When told that the construction of plazas in the Walled City had been banned since 2008, “That is not my headache,” he said. WCLA Director General Kamran Lashari said, “We are planning to buy the building so it can be preserved as it is falling apart. Once restored, it will help promote tourism and highlight the beautiful culture and heritage of the Walled City.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2013.