“Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun”, established as Imperial Forest Research Institute in 1906, the Forest Research Institute (FRI) Dehradun, was first located at Chandhbagh (the present location of the Doon School) on the Mall Road. A much larger campus at the present location was acquired ca 1923. Construction of the present buildings commenced thereafter. Styled in Greeko Roman Architecture by C.G. Blomfield, the main building was inaugurated in 1929 by then Viceroy Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon. It is now a National Heritage site.
FRI Dehradun is built over a lush green estate spread over 450 hectares, with the outer Himalaya forming its back drop, the institute’s main building is an impressive edifice, marrying Greco-Roman and Colonial styles of architecture, with a plinth area of 2.5 hectares. The building was listed for a time, in the Guinness Book of Records, as the largest purely brick structure in the world. It is 7 km from Clock Tower, on the Dehradun-Chakrata motorable road and is of the biggest forest based training institute in India. Most of the forest officers are a part of this institute. FRI and College Area campus is a census town, between Kaulagarh in the north and the Indian Military Academy to the south. The Tons River forms its Western Boundary.
