Under Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, the Tamil Nadu administration explored shifting the Secretariat and Assembly out of Fort St. George and constructing a horizontal, multi‑storeyed heritage complex on the site of the King’s Barracks, which sits behind the 10‑storeyed Namakkal Kavignar Maaligai.
Officials said the move was driven by a chronic shortage of space in the fort’s main block and in the adjacent Maaligai, prompting a design that would preserve the heritage character while adding much‑needed office capacity.
The plan never secured clearance from the defence authorities that currently control the barracks, and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has contested the proposal, asserting that the entire fort is a protected monument and that the state government and the army are merely occupants.
A May 27, 2026 article in The Hindu by V. Sriram attributed the building’s deteriorating condition to a standoff between the Army and the ASI, highlighting the institutional friction that has left the structure on the verge of collapse.
The ASI had announced in 2014 that it would undertake a renovation of the King’s Barracks, describing it as the largest heritage structure in the country, but no substantive work has been reported since that announcement.
Regulations prohibit any construction within a 300‑metre radius of an archaeological site or national monument, meaning that any repair work would require explicit permission from the National Monuments Authority.
During the AIADMK tenure led by J. Jayalalithaa, the only construction permitted was a commemorative arch near the War Memorial for the Assembly’s diamond jubilee, underscoring the strict limits on new development within the fort precincts.
After the inauguration of the Kalaignar Centenary Super Speciality Hospital in Guindy in June 2023, officials briefly reconsidered moving the Secretariat back to the Omandurar Government Estate – the temporary home of the Secretariat‑Assembly complex in 2010‑11 – but the idea was abandoned due to a lack of consensus among political leaders and senior civil servants.
Another proposal floated in policy circles suggests building a horizontal, multi‑storeyed complex on the Marina by demolishing the Ezhilagam building and two adjacent structures, but officials argue the site cannot accommodate all 25 offices currently housed there and question the need to raze buildings when vacant land is available, favouring the Foreshore Estate as a more suitable location.
The impasse over King’s Barracks leaves a historic structure deteriorating and complicates the state’s long‑term space‑planning strategy, highlighting the ongoing tension between heritage preservation and the administrative demands of Tamil Nadu’s growing government.