City Hall has seen many changes<\/p>\n
By Ida Indawati Khouw<\/p>\n
City Hall, known locally as Balai Kota, is one of many city-
\nowned buildings which has undergone tremendous renovations, to
\nsuch an extent that the original building was at one point
\ndemolished to help accommodate the growing number of city
\nemployees. Now listed as one of the capital's 143 protected
\nbuildings, the office of the Jakarta governor is one of the
\ncity's few well preserved historic buildings. This is the sixth
\narticle in a planned series about Jakarta's historical buildings
\nwhich will run in the Saturday editions of The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The current City Hall on Jl. Medan Merdeka
\nSelatan No. 8 in Central Jakarta was apparently the residence of
\nan important figure during the colonial era.<\/p>\n
Books and documents, however, differ over the identity of the
\nofficial.<\/p>\n
Jakarta City Hall, issued in 1995 by the city administration,
\nstated that it was once the residence of the governor of West
\nJava.<\/p>\n
The old City Hall was located next to the governor's residence
\nand was already in ruins, according to the document.<\/p>\n
A book titled Historical Building of Jakarta states that the
\ncurrent City Hall was once the home of the Burgemeester, or the
\ncity's mayor, as well as the office for the city's
\nadministration.<\/p>\n
However, one fact remains the same.<\/p>\n
During the Dutch colonial era, the two neighboring buildings
\n-- the residence and the old City Hall --- stood along
\nKoningsplein (King's Square) street, which is now called Jl.
\nMedan Merdeka Selatan.<\/p>\n
Prior to occupying the building on Koningsplein street,
\nJakarta's City Hall was located in the area of West Tanah Abang,
\nnow known as Jl. Abdul Muis, where it stood for six years
\nbeginning in 1913, according to sources.<\/p>\n
Another book states that in the 18th century the old City Hall
\nwas located in the building which now houses the Jakarta
\nHistorical Museum, or Fatahillah Museum, in downtown Kota.<\/p>\n
City Hall moved from this location sometime in the early 1900s
\non the orders of then Batavia governor-general Herman Willem
\nDaendels, according to the book.<\/p>\n
The office then moved to the prestigious Koningsplein area in
\n1919.<\/p>\n
Some 35 years later, after Indonesia had already gained its
\nindependence, the third Jakarta governor, Soediro, extended City
\nHall by annexing the neighboring residence, which was built in
\nthe 1850s.<\/p>\n
Soediro moved his office to this annexed residence, which has
\nsince this time served as the office of the city governor.<\/p>\n
This building, with its superb doors, pillars and furniture,
\nstill evince the beauty of its youth.<\/p>\n
The vast beautiful European-style garden, with large trees
\ndotting the landscape behind the building, have disappeared,
\nbeing replaced by a 24-story complex of city administration
\noffices.<\/p>\n
Back in the early 1900s, the Koningsplein area -- now known as
\nMonas Square -- and its surroundings were a residential area for
\nwealthy and powerful Dutch families.<\/p>\n
The area was home to large residences, with their accompanying
\nexpansive lawns, and scores of houseboys and female domestic
\nservants.<\/p>\n
In the afternoons, the Dutch women spent their leisure hours
\nstrolling about and chatting with their neighbors.<\/p>\n
\"In an attempt to show off their clothes and other belongings,
\nthese ladies sometimes walked to the nearby Harmonie building
\n(the oldest club in Asia at that time) or Schouwburg (now the
\nGedung Kesenian Jakarta theater),\" said Djauhari Sumintardja, an
\nexpert on historical buildings.<\/p>\n
He said the complex of large and similar Dutch-style houses
\nwhich encircled the 80-hectare Koningsplein, was the capital's
\ntop residential area at the time.<\/p>\n
The mammoth size of the rooms in City Hall are therefore not
\nreally surprising.<\/p>\n
For example, the room which used to serve as a dining room
\nwhen the building was still a residence is the size of a ball
\nhall in a present-day five-star hotel.<\/p>\n
Unlike the often criticized demolition of other old buildings
\nin the city, the destruction of the former City Hall was
\ngenerally approved by preservationists.<\/p>\n
\"The demolition is understandable for the sake of the greater
\ninterest, which was to accommodate the growing number of
\nemployees,\" said Nadia P. Rinandi, a young architect actively
\npromoting the preservation of old buildings.<\/p>\n
According to Wastu Pragantha Zhong, the former head of the
\ncity building arrangement and restoration agency, the city
\nadministration chose to protect and use the former residential
\nbuilding as the office of the Jakarta governor mainly due to the
\nfact that the size of the old City Hall was inadequate for the
\ngrowing number of employees.<\/p>\n
\"We were, in fact, forced and agreed to demolish the former
\nCity Hall. Besides, the old building was also less beautiful,\"
\nZhong said.<\/p>\n
The demolition took place from 1968 to 1972.<\/p>\n
During the colonial era, City Hall was home to some 1,200
\nemployees. After the country's independence in 1945, the number
\nof city employees doubled.<\/p>\n
There were over 60,000 people city employees in 1980, and
\ntoday that number has risen to 75,000.<\/p>\n
Following the demolition of the old City Hall, the
\nadministration built a 24-story building on the former site for
\nthe city's agencies.<\/p>\n
The building was entirely designed and constructed by
\nindigenous Indonesians.<\/p>\n
According to Zhong, the building is a landmark for Indonesian
\narchitects, since it was the first time a local architect had
\ndesigned and constructed a skyscraper.<\/p>\n
\"It was done under the order of (then) governor Ali Sadikin,\"
\nhe said. \"The only foreigner involved was a Japanese who we hired
\nas consultant.\"<\/p>\n
Since then, the building has undergone continuous renovation.
\nIt now consists of nine blocks, including the city council
\nbuilding.<\/p>\n
City employee Tugino, who has worked at City Hall since the
\nearly 1970s, described the skyscraper as the most grand and
\nluxurious building in the capital.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the absence of professionalism inside the
\nglorious building, which has been equipped with meeting halls and
\na fitness center, is apparent.<\/p>\n
In every corner of the building, one sees city employees
\nsitting around, chatting, reading the newspaper or playing table
\ntennis.<\/p>\n
The question then is whether the employees should also be
\npreserved like the building.<\/p>",
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