Central Square, Chennai

The Central Square is a city square and major intersection in Chennai. Areas surrounding the Ripon Building, Victoria Public Hall, Moore Market Complex, Chennai Central Railway Station, the Southern Railway Headquarters and the Government General Hospital are being developed as part of the Central Square. The total site area is estimated to be about 37,800 square meters (7.8 acres), and the development is estimated to cost about ₹4 billion (US$50 million) and will be funded by the CMDA.[1][2]

Ornamental trellis at Central Square Park

The square

The square will have a multi-storied parking lot in its basement, which will also form the foundation of the complex. The 3-storied parking lot will have the capacity to accommodate 1000 cars.[3] The total area of the square will be 154,950 sq meters. A 150-meter-tall, 33-storey building will mark the center of the square.[4][5] The Central Square is deemed to ease congestion along the Poonamallee High Road and integrate several modes of transportation in the city. Construction began in April 2019.[3][6] In addition to underground passages and subways connecting people to Ripon Buildings, Park railway station, Park Town railway station, Chennai Central Railway Station, Moore Market Complex building, and the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital,[7] the intersection will have bus bays, auto stands, and taxi drop-off points to facilitate seamless travel from one mode of transport to another.[3]

There are about 21 structures that are of historical importance in the Central Square area.[8]

A Metro Rail museum showcasing the process that went into the construction of the city's Metro is being commissioned in Raja Sir Savalai Ramaswamy Mudaliar Choultry, a heritage building opposite the Chennai Central railway station.[9]

Progress

As of March 2020, fountains and beautification works were expected to be complete in three months and an underground parking and two pedestrian subways (renovation of the existing subway and construction of a new subway connecting Central Metro station) were expected to be complete in a year's time. The underground parking lot at the Chennai Park suburban railway station will have a capacity to accommodate more than 800 cars. Two more subways are under construction, one linking the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital with Chennai Central and the other linking Evening Bazaar Road with Chennai Central.[10]

Central Square was inaugurated by Chief Minister M. K. Stalin on 30 March 2022.[11]

See also

References
  1. "Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Proposes Central Square; Announces Series of Projects". NDTV. 15 September 2015.
  2. "Chennai to get Rs 400 crore 'Central Square'". The Times of India. 16 September 2015.
  3. Sekar, Sunitha (9 April 2019). "Work on Central Square begins". The Hindu. Chennai. p. 3. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  4. Sekar, Sunitha; Aloysius Xavier Lopez and Deepa H. Ramakrishnan (14 September 2017). "CMRL plans a towering monolith near Central". The Hindu. Chennai. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  5. Sekar, Sunitha (14 September 2017). "One square to link them all". The Hindu. Chennai. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  6. Tejonmayam, U (21 November 2018). "CMRL begins work on Central square, starts with parking lot". The Times of India. Chennai. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  7. "Work on ambitious Chennai Central Square to begin soon". The Deccan Chronicle. Chennai. 25 February 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  8. Xavier Lopez, Aloysius (14 September 2017). "Heritage concerns cast a shadow over ambitious project". The Hindu. Chennai. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  9. Sekar, Sunitha (27 August 2021). "Work on Metro museum begins near Central station". The Hindu. Chennai. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  10. "Benches, fountains at Central Square in 3 months". The Times of India. Chennai. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  11. "Chennai Central Square project: Stalin inaugurates pedestrian plaza and renovated subway". dtNext.in. 30 March 2022. Archived from the original on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.


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