LAHORE: The Alhamra Art Center`s Hall 1 has been closed for an indefinite period after a team of experts has declared it unsafe due to weakening roof structure.

Sources told Dawn that Lahore Arts Council Executive Director Atta Muhammad Khan conducted a survey of the roofs of the three halls at Alhamra and a team of experts declared Hall 1 unsafe due to risk of roof collapse.

Periodic checkup of the halls is necessary as in 1998, the roof of Alhamra`s Hall 2 caved in. Thankfully, there was no gathering for any event at that time.

In order to ensure public safety, the LAC executive director wrote a letter NO LAC/ADMN.DEV(3) 2015306 to consultant architect Nayyer Ali Dada on March 5 which reads: `The Alhamra Art Center is a public place where over two thousand people at Mall Complex and Cultural Complex are visiting daily. It is therefore requested that concerned quarter may kindly be directed to inspect/check the structural stability of roofs, steel trusses of Alhamra Hall I, II and III at Mall Complex and Hall 1 and II at Cultural Complex.

Another letter No LAC 2015-364 was sent to Mr Dada on March 16 requesting him to depute a team of engineers for the inspection of roofs. At a meeting on 18th of the month, attended by Atta Muhammad Khan, Nayyer Ali Dada, Director Republic Engineering Corporation ( PVT) Ltd Faisal Ali Asghar, senior architectZaighamMahmood and LAC Deputy Director (Admin) Aftab Ahmed Ansari, it was unanimously decided that Alhamra`s Hall 1 should immediately be closed for public.

As part of further corre-spondence, the Republic Engineering Corporation (PVT) Limited, the project supervisor, wrote a letter (March 20) which said: `As per our design, the roof is covered by GI sheets of 22 gauge.

However, it was observed that a concrete layer had been placed on top of the GI sheet alongwith bitumen felt and anotherlayer of corrugated sheet was placed thereon. Please note that this is significant additional load, which has not been catered for in our design.

The letter further says `truss members at nearly all supports were cut in order to accommodate space for rainwater drain. In the past few years a number of bomb blasts have taken place in the vicinity of the Alhamra Complex.

It may be pointed out that during these blasts several windows of Alhamra were shattered and their frames were dislodged from their holdfasts. These blasts may have induced undesired stresses in the entire truss framework...

...Due to unwarranted loads, redistribution stresses caused by cutting of critical truss members, lack of proper and periodic maintenance, serious buckling and sagging of a number of truss members have taken place, thusrenderingthe structure unsafe.

LAC Executive Director Atta Muhammad Khan told this reporter that he was probing the points raised by the supervisor. `We have brought the matter to the government`s knowledge and formal proceedings will take place after discussing the matter at the meeting of Board of Governors.

Nayyer Ali Dada said some parts of the roof needed to be replaced that`s why the hall had been closed. `When Temple Road blast took place, the windows of the hall got tilted but they were replaced. And when ceiling was explored it was seen that certain joints had got dislocated,` he said.