Kolkata Town Hall in Roman Doric style, was built in 1813 by the architect and engineer Major General John Henry Garstin (1756–1820) with a fund of 700,000 Rupees raised from a lottery to provide the Europeans with a place for social gatherings. History of the building 1813–1900 The building of the Town Hall was made in Roman-Doric style in 1813. At first, the hall was placed under a committee, which allowed the public to use the hall under such terms and conditions as were fixed by the Government. The public could visit the ground floor hall to see statues and large size portrait paintings but they were not allowed indiscriminate access to the upper storey. Applications for the use of the upper storey were to be made to the committee. After the establishment of the University of Calcutta annual examinations of the university was used to be held here till the year 1872 after which she got her own building. In 1867, Town Hall came under the management of the municipal authority, the Justices of Peace for the improvement of the town of Kolkata (later on the Calcutta Corporation). In the 1870s, at the time of the Chief Justice Richard Couch, when the present building of the High Court was being built, the Town Hall was temporarily used for judicial purposes. In 1871, one of the Puisne Judges, Sir John Paxton Norman was assassinated by a fanatic Muslim of the Wahabi sect, while coming down the steps of the Town Hall. In the year of 1897 the Town Hall had been renovated at a cost of about Rs. 1.126 million. 1900–1947 In 1914, almost all the marble statues except the statue of Ramanath Tagore have been shifted to Victoria Memorial. After the introduction of the Dyarchy in 1919, the Town Hall was used as the council chamber of the Bengal Legislative Council. The interior of the Hall was remodeled to suit the needs of the Council. The President of the Council had his chamber in the Town Hall. Subsequently, the Legislative Council moved to its new building in 1931. During the Second World War, the government temporarily opened a Rationing Office in the Hall. Post-independence After Independence, the Town Hall Building was largely neglected, during the early days of independence, during the 'Socialist Era' of early independence and seems to have been steadily consigned to collective oblivion. It was converted