Starter Kit. Idea 386 of 500. Cluster 19
Heritage-building restoration firms with the skills to work on the forts and the villas
The mechanism, from the book
Eight World Heritage Sites and 2,300 years of records, and the country's story is told to the world by other people.
The first step
Find one owner of an old villa or a building inside a fort who needs repairs, and offer a written survey of what is original, what is damaged and what proper restoration would cost. Charge a modest fee for the survey. One paid survey, and one owner who asks for a price to do the work, is the start of the firm.
- Who pays first
- The owner of a heritage villa or boutique hotel who wants restoration done correctly, not modern repairs that destroy the value.
- What leaves today
- Old buildings are patched with cement or left to fall; a skilled restoration firm keeps both the heritage value and the skills on the island.
Ask first
- Department of Archaeology. Ask which buildings in the area are protected and what restoration rules apply.
- Urban Development Authority. Ask what approvals building work inside a heritage area needs.
Check before you spend
Whether the building is protected, which approvals the work needs, and that your firm can show qualified people for every trade involved.
Find out these three numbers
- What would an owner pay for a written survey?
- How many old buildings near you need repair?
- What does proper restoration cost per room?
A comparison from the book
Singapore, 1983. Chapter Five
"It had learned, from one bad year, that its heritage was revenue."
Old buildings kept well are income, so the skill to keep them is worth paying for.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.