RAWALPINDI: The ancient building housing Odeon Cinema and a library is all set to become victim of commercialisation as Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) has decided to demolish the 120-year-old structure next month and construct a shopping mall at the place.

The RCB has got the green signal from higher authorities in the Military Lands and Cantonments in this regard.

However, political, cultural and social circles here got perturbed over the move and said it would be a colossal loss to the ancient heritage of the city.

Former senator Sardar Saleem showed his annoyance at the RCB decision saying the cinema house should not be replaced with a shopping mall. He recalled that once the cinema, library and park were the main source of entertainment for the residents.

He said the people cherished memories of the time when they had entertainment at cinema and library. He feared that the library would also be shifted from the place after construction of the shopping mall. “The library-going culture is vanishing and the trend is affecting the society,” he maintained.

In the presence of numerous business centres around, he said, another shopping mall would serve no purpose as the building should not only be persevered but modern facilities should also be provided there to attract the people.

Famous film and TV actor Sajjad Kishwar said cinema houses were the symbol of cultural activities and they should not be converted into business plazas. Renowned actor Battin Farooqi got upset over the news and said the government move showed that revival of film industry in the country had become a pipe dream.

“The civic body will not be able to generate much money by constructing the shopping plaza. Therefore, the city managers should rethink their plan for the survival of the historical site,” he said.

Feeling depressed over the proposed demolition of cinema, Sheikh Shoaib, the owner of a shop at Bank Road, said he spent many enjoyable moments at the cinema in his teenage. “It used to be my favourite pastime like many of my friends,” he said and added it should be saved and refurbished.

The cinema, library and a park belong to Lansdowne Trust founded by two Sikh brothers - Sardar Kirpal Singh Rai Bahadur and Sardar Sujan Singh Rai Bahadur - who developed the facilities for education and recreation of the cantonment residents. The cinema was constructed in 1891. The offices of Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards are also located at Lansdowne Trust building and the RCB is paying Rs100,000 annual rent to the trust.

The cinema was closed for public in 2008 on the directives of then Station Commander Brig Sajjad Azam as the lessee was not giving the annual rent of the cinema.

During the last four years, the RCB authorities did not lease out the cinema and now they said maintenance of the building was a burden on the civic body. At present, stamp vendors and typists are doing their business on the premises with the approval of the civic authority.

Brushing aside people’s demand to preserve ancient site and national heritage, a senior RCB officer told Dawn that the cantonment board would demolish the old structure and convert it into a shopping mall to generate money.

He said after getting approval from the Military Lands and Cantonments, the RCB had asked the administration of Cinepax to establish a cinema at two floors of the proposed shopping mall to avoid criticism from the heritage lovers.

The RCB official added that six years back, Cinepax, MacDonald’s and KFC approached the board seeking approval to set up their outlets at the same place but then military and cantonment authorities turned down the proposal citing security reasons.

“The RCB will establish cinema on two floors of the proposed shopping mall. We wanted to utilise the land to generate money for the civic body,” said Rana Manzoor Ahmed Khan, RCB Cantonment Executive Officer, while talking to Dawn.

He said the shopping mall would generate approximately over one billion rupees for the civic body.

Apart from cinema, the RCB planned to establish a food park in the area, he said and added that the board was contacting international and local food chains to establish their outlets in the food park.

To a question, he said the RCB would not destroy the century-old Shahbloot Park and it would try to save 100-year old pine and date trees in the area. “We have faced a lot of criticism over the cutting down of 100-year-old trees in front of Cantonment Library,” he said.