Curepipe – Royal Road and the Merven Building – 1950s
The Merven Building, from the Merven Brothers, laid its first stone in April 1950. Back in 1939, due to the success of similar apartment buildings being constructed (one opposite the Ritz Cinema, and the other near the St Therese Church) the Merven brothers seized the opportunity and purchased this plot of land from the property of Salaffa and constructed in their turn this building having 24 apartments on two levels and having shopping facilities at ground level. At the time, this wonderful building was designed by a young mauritian architect, Mr Roger Dufourg, and was then constructed by the ‘Mauritius Building Company’. This building changed how the centre of Curepipe looked during these day. On the opposite side facing the Royal Road the ‘Royal College of Curepipe‘ was dominant and made the building even more popular.
Additionally, these old buses had a bus stop just in front of the Royal College, most probably easing students transits. A comparison of these days to recent times shows however, apart from the vehicles on the roads, everything else has remained the same. Rumors of 2014 mentions that the Merven building might be pulled down to be replaced by a modern one… but rumors are certainly not to be trusted.
Curepipe Junction – Merven Building – 1950s/2013
