RAWALPINDI: Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) has convened a meeting of the Lansdowne Trust on Sept 10 for face lifting of the century-old Odeon Cinema, Cantonment Library and Shah Baloot Park as well as promotion of employees of the trust working in the library.

The meeting will be held in the RCB offices with Station Commander Brig Ijaz Qamar Kiani in the chair. The meeting will approve the restoration of Odeon Cinema to its original look.

On Dec 5, 1891, Sardar Kirpal Singh Rai Bahadur and his brother Sardar Sujan Singh Rai Bahadur established the trust to manage the cinema, library and the park on The Mall to provide educational and recreational facilities to the local residents.

The trust was established in the name of Lord Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, Marquees of Lansdowne, who remained the viceroy and governor general of India from 1884 to 1894. British authorities allotted more than 100 kanals to the trust for this purpose.

A senior official of the RCB said services of experts from Multan had been hired to restore the cinema building to its original form. Work had been started but it slowed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said approval would be taken from the trust members about the tile and stone works on the premises.

“The cinema has been closed for the last 13 years. However, the civic body has planned to renovate it on modern lines,” he said.

When contacted, RCB spokesman Qaisar Mehmood confirmed that a meeting of the trust had been called to decide the promotion of employees, facelift plans of the library and cinema and other administrative issues of the century-old building.

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2020