Old immigration building to have new face

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After a long delay, the renovation of the former Central Jakarta immigration office in Menteng, Central Jakarta, is expected to see the light of day by the end of this year.

City Culture and Museum Agency head Aurora Tambunan told The Jakarta Post on Saturday that the delay was partly owing to a limited budget allocation.

"We will complete the entire physical restoration of the heritage building in December. We are now in the process of selecting one among several companies to manage the building," she said.

Each of the companies has experience in handling heritage buildings and has expressed interest in using the renovated building, she said.

She added the agency would go with the concept of a private management, which will transform the building into a "unique venue" for all Jakartans to hold activities there aside from using a part of the building for commercial purposes.

The administration allocated Rp 6.1 billion last year to restore the building.

Aurora said that the agency would proceed with the plan to refurbish the heritage building so that it was well-integrated with its neighborhood.

"For instance, we plan to use the space under Gondangdia railway overpass for parking," she said.

The main building of the compound on Jl. Teuku Umar 1, is believed to be the first concrete building built during the Dutch colonial era. It originally functioned as a center for the arts where opera performances were held.

Named the Netherlands-Indische Kunstkring (the Netherlands- Indies Art Circle), the building was designed by Dutch architect Pieter Adriaan Jacobus Moojen in 1912 and its construction started in the same year.

The building was used as the Central Jakarta immigration office until 1997 when it was handed over to a private developer in 1998 through a land swap deal.

Unfortunately, the developer had not cared for the building at all. Most of the antique fixtures -- including light fittings, window and door frames -- went missing. The developer even planned to demolish it to build a new building on the land.

The public as well history buffs rose to oppose the plan and managed to force the administration to reclaim the building from the developer for a hefty Rp 28 billion in 2002.

Groups concerned with the fast disappearing heritage sites in Jakarta have long complained of the administration's poor attention to the preservation of historically significant buildings across the capital, while the administration has repeatedly argued that it could not preserve them well since most of them are privately owned.

Out of 216 heritage buildings, which are protected under a gubernatorial decree, only 40 are owned by the government, of which only 15 buildings belong to the city administration.

Most of those buildings are now in a poor condition, including a Chinese mansion built in the 17th century, known as Candranaya building located on Jl. Gajah Mada in Central Jakarta.

The red-brick mansion looks shabby with parts of it damaged and wild bushes growing around it. It is located right in the middle of a deserted modern high rise building.

Two security guards at the scene hesitated to allow the Post to get closer to the old mansion.

"You are allowed to see it, but only for a few minutes and you must promise not to take pictures of it," one of them said.