Inside The Palladian Lounge. A Telegraph picture

From arts expositions to an informal adda on ilish, supper theatre to Shirin Ebadi, Kay Kay to Karthikeyan…

The Palladian Lounge, originally positioned as an oasis in the Central Business District (CBD), can claim to have done its bit to try and steer an urban renewal movement in the office locality through its diversity of events.

The Dalhousie area looks abandoned after dark. The riverfront revival still remains a distant dream — even the pilot stretch between the two bridges seems stillborn — and the adaptive retail re-use of the restored 16 Strand Road, better known as Mackinnon & Mackenzie House, is some way off.

The Port Trust authorities continue to grapple with the future of the crumbling Strand warehouses and Scoop remains the only visible F&B option by the Hooghly, with The Floatel just wading into the picture with its rooms-cuisine combo.

“I walked all around Dalhousie Square one afternoon and couldn’t find a single decent place where I could grab a quick bite. The CBD can easily accommodate a clutch of Café Coffee Days and Baristas,” observes Ash Kapur, former general manager of Goodricke.

But the Palladian Lounge, which comes with a fine-dining area — the first of its kind in Dalhousie — on the third level of The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s (BCCI) heritage building, is now into its third year and is drawing an eclectic footfall.

Combining Manipuri and music, and books and banqueting, the place has sought to make the office para a more happening place, giving people enough reason to return to the CBD even after work. It’s scarcely a drop in the ocean. Nevertheless, it’s a start.

A sip-n-bite lair is what The Palladian Lounge primarily stands for, seeking to plug that gap, at least, among the white-collared CBD clan. It still carries limitations like a serious parking constraint and is yet to benefit from the promised improvements in the Dalhousie Square area in terms of parking solutions, clear pavements, freedom from indiscriminate commercial billboards and a general cosmetic uplift.

The Palladian blends the old-world charm of a wood-panelled expansive business lounge with warmth and informality. Integrated with a structured riverfront redevelopment drive, it can also become a tourism magnet, feel urban planning experts.

Architect Dulal Mukherjee, who did the concept design for the lounge’s interiors, feels it’s “a quiet beginning” could prompt large-scale restoration of the neglected business quarters. Clearly, others need to be enthused to replicate similar products to ring in a generic facelift.

“While it won’t be easy for others, the BCCI has a unique stature and can surely act as a catalyst. In that role, it can even look into the possibility of opening up The Palladian Lounge to bureaucrats, say twice a week, offering them temporary membership. Dragging them out of the Writers’ to discuss issues could actually lead to speedier solutions,” suggests architect and urban designer Partha Ranjan Das.

A steady stream of events, drawing to The Palladian Lounge the likes of Waheeda Rehman and Aparna Sen, Balamuralikrishna and Paritosh Sen, not to mention consular diplomats, has set the ball rolling. It has hosted Amit Chaudhuri’s Raga Rock Night, Preeti Patel’s Manipuri recital or intimate-space theatre by Ashok Vishwanathan and Theatrician.

“The Palladian Lounge is waiting for the other elements to fall in place to be able to contribute more meaningfully to the bigger picture,” says BCCI secretary-general Khokan Mookerji.

But the bigger picture continues to elude our planners and projects to restore the CBD’s past glory remain piecemeal, like a Calcutta Municipal Corporation initiative to beautify a stretch in front of the GPO, an underground Laldighi parking lot or an extension of the Millennium Park.

Dalhousie Square waits for livelier nights.