kolkata the heritage committee of kolkata municipal corporation has given the nod to life insurance corporation of india to repair and paint the sprawling queens mansion a grade i heritage structure located at the intersection of park street and russell street lic had applied for the permission to undertake the periodic upkeep of the centuryold building that it owns wild growth including trees that have taken root in the crevices and joints will be uprooted cracks will be repaired plumbing will be overhauled and the building will receive a fresh coat of paint said a kmc officialthe matter came up for discussion at the mayorincouncil meeting on wednesday and got the civic bodys approval the kmc heritage committee however has asked the lic authorities to exercise caution while undertaking the repair work making it compatible with the buildings heritage character same caution should be exercised while painting it was pointed out to lic this centuryold gradei heritage building was built with lime and mortar we have asked the owner of the building to select materials carefully so that the repair and painting process dont flout heritage rules a civic official said once that is done lic that owns several heritage mansions in the city including the metropolitan building at esplanade and a series of buildings in which lic offices are housed on central avenue will take up the renovation work of esplanade mansion opposite the raj bhavan east gate the queens mansion on park street was built by armenian johannes carapiet galstaun in 1920 born in iran in 1859 he migrated to kolkata at a very young age and later became a real estate tycoon and horse racing enthusiast the esplanade mansion was built by jewish businessman david elias ezra in 1910 previously the site was scott thompsons shop and two houses now it houses offices owned by eastern railway life insurance corporation and other government officesgm kapur the kolkata convenor of indian national trust for art cultural heritage intach said some of the huge buildings that lic owns are of varying architectural styles and also among the wellmaintained ones the esplanade mansion is the only instance of art nouveau style i only wish they could restore the bourne shephard building on sn banerjee road there are conservation architects willing to take up the work if lic allows its adaptive reuse post restoration he added that kmc should also do up its own buildings like futnani chambers and roxy cinemaheritage enthusiast rangan chakravarty said kolkata has lost many beautiful buildings of note if the existing ones are well maintained they add to the splendour of the city i wish these buildings had cafes and other places that would make them more vibrant