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The former Supreme Court building located on Jalan Raja, Kuala Lumpur. — Picture by ZAIN ABDULLAH / FLICKR[/caption]
SHAH ALAM, Feb 3 — The iconic and colonial buildings at the junction of Jalan Raja and Jalan Tun Perak in the city centre will be given a facelift, the New Straits Times (NST) reported today.
Among the historical heritage include the Federated Malay States (FMS) Survey Office and Supreme Court, where the rejuvenation work would be monitored by registered conservators under the National Heritage Department (NHD).
Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan told NST that the buildings had been handed over to the KL City Hall (DBKL) for the RM120 million upgrade by its former custodian, the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry.
"We will open them up soon to the public and access will be free. You can walk inside the buildings and take pictures.
"But those who want to use them for private functions will have to pay," he said, adding that a bangsawan (Malay opera) play had been scheduled for Panggung Bandaraya’s reopening.
"Our main concern is securing the place. We need to have enough guards. I am afraid that the homeless will make the place theirs.
"They have been using the fountain in the area to bathe," Nor Hisham was quoted, referring to the fountain and pools at the Sultan Abdul Samad Building.
Nor Hisham said some of the allocations for the upgrade was expected to be used for the restorative work outside the building. However, it has not been determined as to whether the funds would include fixing the damaged water features, tiles and marble slabs of the courtyard there, built under the controversial River of Life (RoL) project.
The restoration works would be fully done by DBKL and outsiders are welcomed to submit ideas, but would not be recruited.
"The project is ours. We don’t want to pay people (consultants) and have them claim that it is theirs," NST quoted Nor Hisham. The involvement of outsiders would be limited to registered conservators.
