In Bandra West, where gleaming towers have steadily replaced its quiet colonial charm, a senior couple’s persistence has paid off. Allen and Patrice Fernandes, long-time residents of the Unis bungalow on St Roque Road, have successfully recovered a century-old marble plaque from a demolition site near Bhabha Hospital.
The plaque bears the name of Patrice’s great-grandfather, Robert Concessio, who served as Vice-President of the Bandra Municipality when the original civic building was inaugurated in 1912.
Rediscovered after demolition
The couple had been searching for the relic since the demolition of the old Bandra Town Hall on Waterfield Road. On October 24, during a visit to the site, Patrice was informed by the supervisor that the plaque had been located, though broken into two pieces.
The couple hopes the BMC will reinstall the recovered plaque in any new civic building constructed on the same site to serve as a reminder of the men who helped build Bandra into the ‘Queen of the Suburbs.
Echoes of a vanished landmark
Before its demolition earlier this year, the Bandra Municipality Building, fondly remembered as the Bandra Town Hall, stood for over a century beside Bhabha Hospital. The two-storey structure, topped with a clock tower, once housed various municipal departments and even a civic bank.
The building, categorised as C-1 (dangerous), was razed in September after being deemed unsafe. Conservationists described it as an early example of Art Deco-influenced civic architecture, with flat roofs, angular lines, and vertical beading, a rare design for 1912 Mumbai.