Margao New Market

These are 'before' shots of the Margao Municipality's New Market building, before it got a facelift. Margao does have a lot of markets - first there was the Old Market (Mercado Velho) near the Colva Circle. Then came this New Market building. Between this building on the Station Road and the 'Shoeshop' Road, lie all the tiny shops that huddle together in a colourful melee of goods ranging from papad and pickles to lingerie and limbu-soda. And recently the new SGPDA market complex has been set up near the Colva roundabout, effectively back closer to the Old Market.

So, in effect this building is the Old New Market. The SGPDA market becomes the New New Market. The Old Old Market has simply grown older!

The shot below is of the MMC New Market after its facial and botox shots. The old plaster was stripped away and new cement plaster put on. The paint is a pleasant yellow shade. It was quite a sight to watch the masons chipping and plastering away with all the shoppers going on below them oblivious to the risk of falling debris and mortar.

But we can't be satisfied with the Municipality's half baked job of restoration, eh? Those ACs, festooning leftovers and wires hanging around looked ugly, so I got on to good ol' Photoshop and cleaned up the image. Voila, the building as it may have looked when it was built!

The long shot also gets the Photoshop treatment. Makes us feel a lot better, doesn't it?

The two blocks are similar and look quite grand after years of neglect. And to crown the photographs, the last shot is a panoramic view of the two buildings.

The building was erected in the early 1900s and sports a modern look, with Art Deco style form and motifs. She's good for another hundred years now. Well done, MMC!

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