Old buildings to become tourist attraction centers

Old buildings to become tourist attraction centers

By Yoko N. Sari

JAKARTA (JP): Have you ever imagined living in the Dutch
colonial period? Maybe yes, maybe no. What about staying in
hundreds-of-years-old hotels or eating in restaurants once used
as detention centers by the colonial government on the old days?

Whatever the answer, this imagination will soon come into
reality as the city administration is currently considering the
possibility of reviving the Kota (downtown) area in West Jakarta
by allowing private investors to use old buildings as hotels or
restaurants.

The city administration is planning to turn Kota's area into
tourist attraction centers with nightlife as well as the daytime
activities.

"We are reviewing the possibility of issuing permits for used,
old buildings in Kota to be renovated into hotels, discotheque
centers and restaurants," said Prawoto S. Danoemihardjo, the City
Secretary assistant for economy and development affairs.

Prawoto said the plan was made in response to a proposal sent
by the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications to
utilize the charm of old and historical buildings and Kota's
environment as one of the city's major tourist attraction
centers.

Centuries ago Kota was the center of the Dutch colonial
government or, as Dirman Surachmat, head of the city's Museum and
History office, puts it, Kota was the root of Jakarta.

Nowadays Kota has grown into a busy and modern center of trade
even though its surroundings are filled with hectic traffic and a
dirty river.

The Kota area is the oldest area in Jakarta from where
foreigners, mostly traders, entered the city through Sunda Kelapa
harbor in the middle of the 17th century. The foreigners
developed buildings there at that time and changed the area into
a center of trade and shipping.

In Kota many of the old buildings still exist, but people are
now using these properties for other purposes, such as museums
and warehouses. For example Museum Bahari, which was built in
1652, was originally a warehouse to keep enormous stocks of
pepper, coffee, tea and cloth owned by the Dutch trading
corporation, Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC).

Many of the old buildings in the Kota area, especially inside
the fort wall, were built by the colonial government during the
17th century. Included among them is an age-old structures which
is now being used as the branch office of the central bank (Bank
Indonesia). The building used to be a hospital, while the Wayang
museum was a church.

Although the area is still functioning as the center of trade,
just as it did hundreds of years ago, many buildings in the area
are no longer inhabited.

Historical values

Before going ahead with the plan there is one question that
needs answering: Will the renovations impair the historical
values of the buildings? The question must be answered in view of
the fact that the city has a regulation regarding the need to
protect old and historical buildings from being destroyed.

"As an historian, the historical values are important. Any
change or inaccuracy to the property is feared to affect the
values," Dirman said.

The chief of the city museum and history office said that from
an historical point of view everything must be maintained so as
to preserve its originality, including its architecture, wood and
even the paint.

Commenting on the renovation of one of the old buildings in
the Kota area, which is now used as a restaurant, Dirman said
that the renovated building has lost its historical values
because its wood and paint were changed.

Dirman also said that in line with the city regulation, old
and historical buildings are classified into several categories.
"The status of buildings grouped into Classification A,
consisting mostly of structures which have historical values for
example, are not allowed to be changed," he said.

The city administration data show there are 224 old and
historical buildings all over Jakarta which are protected by the
government under the regulation at present. "These are the only
buildings we have managed to preserve," Dirman said.

He also reminded Jakarta not to repeat Amsterdam's exercise in
changing the status of a number of old buildings into hotels and
restaurants.

"Many historians in the Netherlands are disappointed with the
renovation because it is considered to have destroyed their
historical values," he said.

"I just want to suggest that we must act based on the
gubernatorial decree regarding the preservation of the old and
historical properties before renovating or changing their
function," Dirman said.

Guarantee

In a related development, West Jakarta mayor Sutardiyanto said
that the plan to revive Kota area will not affect buildings with
historical value.

"Under the plan, the mayoralty has no intention of using old
and historical buildings because they are protected by law,"
Sutardiyanto said.

He said his mayoralty will give permits only to old building
owned by private companies or individuals which are currently
used as warehouses.

Prawoto further explained that an investor has expressed
interested in transforming the ceramic museum in Kota as a hotel
but the city administration has turned it down pending the
completion of the city's plan.

There are many things that have to be taken into consideration
because reviving the Kota area requires the construction of more
facilities, including water networks and roads, he said.

"As the city administration budget does not have enough to
build all of these facilities, we also invite private companies
to participate in this program," he said.

Prawoto said the daunting traffic jams along Jl. Gajah Mada
and Jl. Hayam Wuruk leading to the Kota area, that happen every
day, are considered to be one of the problems that could hamper
the plan.

"We have to widen the roads that connect Kota to other places
in the city and build more flyovers to ease traffic congestions,"
he added.