In good news for the beleaguered Esplanade Mansion, of the three members of the panel constituted by the Bombay High Court to inspect the 150-year-old building, two feel that the structure can be restored. However, they will have to figure out the cost involved to restore it, before they submit their report to the court on January 27.

While the landlord said he will bear the cost of restoration, now he has insisted that tenants also contribute. During the last hearing on December 18, an argument had broken out over the lack of coordination between the panel members, and the division bench of Justice SJ Kathawalla and Justice BP Colabawalla had directed them to visit Esplanade Mansion together. That did not happen. Structural architect Chetan Raikar, one of the panel members, had visited the building four times prior to the hearing. The other two members, conservation architects Abha Lambah and Pankaj Joshi, visited the premises a few days after the last hearing.