chennai the indian national trust for art and cultural heritage intach has recommended in its report to the madras high court that the famed gokhale hall be preserved as a monument intach was asked by the high court to ascertain the structural stability of the gokhale hall and submit a report after the incumbent officebearers of the young mens india association ymia floated by annie besant in 1914 decided to raze the structure and replace it with a multistoried building just when the mezzanine floor of the hall was being ripped apart that the madras hc stayed the demolition acting on a pilthe court then appointed an experts committee comprising p t krishnan and tara murali of intach to submit its recommendations to the court the report said dismantling had already commenced in the main building of the gokhale hall when the inspection started the timber plank flooring in the mezzanine floor of the central hall had been removed a close examination of both the exterior and interior faces of the dome does not show any sign of structural distress there are no structural cracks to be seen and the integrity of the brick masonry and concrete ribs remain satisfactory the report saidthe report said the dome did need some attention to prevent further deterioration of the waterproofing and preservation of external plastering it also said claims suggesting that the floors are unsafe due to deflection of the steel rafters are not tenablebased on our visual examination the rafters are well within safe limitswhile recommending preservation of this place of great historic interest and substantial architectural value the committee however suggested that the annexe building could be allowed to be demolished