City Hall has seen many changes

City Hall has seen many changes

By Ida Indawati Khouw

City Hall, known locally as Balai Kota, is one of many city-
owned buildings which has undergone tremendous renovations, to
such an extent that the original building was at one point
demolished to help accommodate the growing number of city
employees. Now listed as one of the capital's 143 protected
buildings, the office of the Jakarta governor is one of the
city's few well preserved historic buildings. This is the sixth
article in a planned series about Jakarta's historical buildings
which will run in the Saturday editions of The Jakarta Post.

JAKARTA (JP): The current City Hall on Jl. Medan Merdeka
Selatan No. 8 in Central Jakarta was apparently the residence of
an important figure during the colonial era.

Books and documents, however, differ over the identity of the
official.

Jakarta City Hall, issued in 1995 by the city administration,
stated that it was once the residence of the governor of West
Java.

The old City Hall was located next to the governor's residence
and was already in ruins, according to the document.

A book titled Historical Building of Jakarta states that the
current City Hall was once the home of the Burgemeester, or the
city's mayor, as well as the office for the city's
administration.

However, one fact remains the same.

During the Dutch colonial era, the two neighboring buildings
-- the residence and the old City Hall --- stood along
Koningsplein (King's Square) street, which is now called Jl.
Medan Merdeka Selatan.

Prior to occupying the building on Koningsplein street,
Jakarta's City Hall was located in the area of West Tanah Abang,
now known as Jl. Abdul Muis, where it stood for six years
beginning in 1913, according to sources.

Another book states that in the 18th century the old City Hall
was located in the building which now houses the Jakarta
Historical Museum, or Fatahillah Museum, in downtown Kota.

City Hall moved from this location sometime in the early 1900s
on the orders of then Batavia governor-general Herman Willem
Daendels, according to the book.

The office then moved to the prestigious Koningsplein area in
1919.

Some 35 years later, after Indonesia had already gained its
independence, the third Jakarta governor, Soediro, extended City
Hall by annexing the neighboring residence, which was built in
the 1850s.

Soediro moved his office to this annexed residence, which has
since this time served as the office of the city governor.

This building, with its superb doors, pillars and furniture,
still evince the beauty of its youth.

The vast beautiful European-style garden, with large trees
dotting the landscape behind the building, have disappeared,
being replaced by a 24-story complex of city administration
offices.

Back in the early 1900s, the Koningsplein area -- now known as
Monas Square -- and its surroundings were a residential area for
wealthy and powerful Dutch families.

The area was home to large residences, with their accompanying
expansive lawns, and scores of houseboys and female domestic
servants.

In the afternoons, the Dutch women spent their leisure hours
strolling about and chatting with their neighbors.

"In an attempt to show off their clothes and other belongings,
these ladies sometimes walked to the nearby Harmonie building
(the oldest club in Asia at that time) or Schouwburg (now the
Gedung Kesenian Jakarta theater)," said Djauhari Sumintardja, an
expert on historical buildings.

He said the complex of large and similar Dutch-style houses
which encircled the 80-hectare Koningsplein, was the capital's
top residential area at the time.

The mammoth size of the rooms in City Hall are therefore not
really surprising.

For example, the room which used to serve as a dining room
when the building was still a residence is the size of a ball
hall in a present-day five-star hotel.

Unlike the often criticized demolition of other old buildings
in the city, the destruction of the former City Hall was
generally approved by preservationists.

"The demolition is understandable for the sake of the greater
interest, which was to accommodate the growing number of
employees," said Nadia P. Rinandi, a young architect actively
promoting the preservation of old buildings.

According to Wastu Pragantha Zhong, the former head of the
city building arrangement and restoration agency, the city
administration chose to protect and use the former residential
building as the office of the Jakarta governor mainly due to the
fact that the size of the old City Hall was inadequate for the
growing number of employees.

"We were, in fact, forced and agreed to demolish the former
City Hall. Besides, the old building was also less beautiful,"
Zhong said.

The demolition took place from 1968 to 1972.

During the colonial era, City Hall was home to some 1,200
employees. After the country's independence in 1945, the number
of city employees doubled.

There were over 60,000 people city employees in 1980, and
today that number has risen to 75,000.

Following the demolition of the old City Hall, the
administration built a 24-story building on the former site for
the city's agencies.

The building was entirely designed and constructed by
indigenous Indonesians.

According to Zhong, the building is a landmark for Indonesian
architects, since it was the first time a local architect had
designed and constructed a skyscraper.

"It was done under the order of (then) governor Ali Sadikin,"
he said. "The only foreigner involved was a Japanese who we hired
as consultant."

Since then, the building has undergone continuous renovation.
It now consists of nine blocks, including the city council
building.

City employee Tugino, who has worked at City Hall since the
early 1970s, described the skyscraper as the most grand and
luxurious building in the capital.

Unfortunately, the absence of professionalism inside the
glorious building, which has been equipped with meeting halls and
a fitness center, is apparent.

In every corner of the building, one sees city employees
sitting around, chatting, reading the newspaper or playing table
tennis.

The question then is whether the employees should also be
preserved like the building.