Had it stood, it would have completed 125 years in November this year. Moore Market, however, still remains, 40 years after a disastrous fire engulfed it, as an evergreen memory. It is just that I find with some digging, that there were clearly two views about it: the roseate nostalgic one, and the other, more based on reality – of an urban facility that was a byword for chaos and many malpractices.
Planned as the central market for the city after Popham’s in Broadway was condemned as unsanitary, work on it began in 1898 and was completed in November 1900, when Governor Sir Arthur Havelock threw it open. The earlier market, named after the man who planned out Broadway, was demolished and a park, the acme of Victorian ideals in planning, was laid out in its place. It was named Loane’s Square, after S.J. Loane, the then Corporation engineer. It is now Sriramulu Park, after a former mayor.
Shopkeepers occupy the space inside Moore Market in Madras. The photo was taken on May 31, 1971. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives
The new facility, built alongside Central Station, was named after Lt. Col. Sir George Moore, President of the Madras Corporation in 1898 when the market was planned.
Built at a cost of 26,000 pounds, Moore Market had 291 stalls, and spanned a massive site, 350 ft. by 240 ft. It was designed as a rectangle around an open, central, courtyard, so as to allow free circulation of air and light. The Indo-Saracenic structure had a verandah on the outer periphery with a series of arches allowing entry.
