GEORGE TOWN: Fifty-one years after it was demolished and rebuilt, Chowrasta Market will be refurbished into a green building initiative (GBI) while maintaining its heritage value.
The project, under the purview of the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP), is in the design and planning stage before its targetted year-end commencement. It Is expected to cost RM10 million to RM12 million.
At a briefing at the chief minister's office yesterday, LLA Architect director Ong Jin Cheng (pic) said the facade of the building would be retained, especially since Chowrasta had been classified as "Category 2" in heritage value.
"However, our proposal is to take one-third of the original building and turn the back of the market into a multi-storey carpark that will fit 150 bays," he said.
"The original building will be retained and its interior replaced to make for pleasant space while also reintroducing escalators for better access. "Our vision is to make Chowrasta a vibrant and colourful space."
Ong said the market in Penang Road was first built in the 1870s as a "simple rectangle building". In 1920, it assumed a hammerhead shape after an additional structure was attached to the front of the building.
"In 1961, the original market was demolished and the three-storey market, which now exists, was erected. To date, the shops and stalls are only between 30 per cent and 40 per cent occupied," he said.
"There are issues with the design of the original building, which is all closed up, so there is not much visibility, natural lighting or natural ventilation.
"Outside the market it is vibrant as that is where all the activities happen. There is almost a complete market on the streets."
He said this presented hygienic, cleanliness and traffic issues.
Among the plans for the upgrade, which will be done in phases, is for a rooftop urban farm complete with a hydroponic and bio-regen system, and for public amenities like postal services and bill payment outlets on the first floor.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng commended LLA Architect, a heritage preserving architect firm, for proposing to make the market "a first GBI for a wet market" in Penang.
"The project, which will have an open tender process, will preserve its heritage features and aspect to the building," he said.
Lim noted Chowrasta was one of the state's oldest wet markets.
"Chowrasta also has a strategic location as it is in the centre of four main roads — Penang Road, Lebuh Tamil, Jalan Kuala Kangsar and Jalan Chowrasta," he said.
"The council has worked hard to make Chowrasta an icon in the George Town's Central Business District.
"The state's Competency, Accountability and Transparency (CAT) policy has enabled the state and its two councils (MPPP and the Seberang Perai Municipal Council) to better manage finances and rake in profits annually."
In presenting the council's expenditures for development projects, Lim said it rose from RM7 million in 2007 to RM8.9 million in 2011 and RM24.5 million this year.
"Development expenditures has risen more than threefold but the council also recorded annual profits of RM25,882,209 in 2008, RM20,182,479 (2009) and a whopping RM63,268,428 in 2010 because we practised CAT," he said.
Lim said Chowrasta was one of five markets to be upgraded and the state planned to upgrade all the wet markets on the island in the future.
4 comments