Singapore Custom's former headquarters at Custom House has been marked as a historic site by the National Heritage Board (NHB). The 57-year-old building along Maxwell Road is the 88th historic site in Singapore marked by NHB. The Custom House building was the Customs headquarters for almost 60 years from 1932 to 1989. The Singapore Customs is now located at Revenue House. Source : Channel NewsAsia –...
Conservation
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan has said an additional 51 buildings and two structures at Jalan Besar, which include the 50-year-old Lee Clan Association, will be conserved. He announced this on Monday at this year's Architectural Heritage Awards where he congratulated the eight winners whose projects comprised restored conserved buildings and one monument. But before the awards ceremony began,...
To preserve the heritage of historic districts, Heritage Charters can be drawn up to guide the kinds of activities and uses allowed in these areas. These can be formulated jointly by the public, private and people sectors, said Mr Lee Tzu Yang, co-chair of the focus group appointed to look into the issue. There is also a need to develop more iconic structures to give each area in Singapore a distinct...
Any makeover plans for Raffles Hotel, which is to be sold to a Qatar sovereign wealth fund, will have to take into account its status as a gazetted National Monument. Proposals for any addition or alteration to the iconic landmark building must comply with the Preservation Guidelines (PGL) under the Preservation of Monuments Act, and will require the approval of both the Urban Redevelopment Authority...
I THANK Mr Thomas Toh for his letter last Tuesday, 'Restore Clifford Pier to new glory', in which he reminisced about the bumboats that used to ply Clifford Pier. Following the construction of the Marina Barrage, bumboats and other commercial vessels now operate from Marina South Pier. There are still small boats, water taxis and cruise boats that will ply Marina Bay to ferry visitors to and from the...
Another six buildings will be preserved as national monuments. They are Church of St Teresa, Command House, Keng Teck Whay temple, the former Raffles College, the former St James Power Station, and Bowyer Block at the Singapore General Hospital. Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, RADM (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, in announcing the latest buildings to be gazetted on the National...
MANY Singaporeans may remember taking their wedding photos at the Look-out Tower at the Toa Payoh Town Park in the past. Today, the memories will live on not only in picture albums but through the efforts of the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). The statutory board is expanding its conservation programme for buildings and monuments to include heritage structures. “What makes a place distinctive and...
For the first time, heritage structures such as bridges and towers will be included under a national programme to conserve Singapore's architectural heritage, and Anderson Bridge is one of six bridges named for conservation in 2008. The others are the Elgin Bridge at Boat Quay, the Cavenagh Bridge just outside Fullerton Hotel, the Ord, Read and Crawford Bridges. At the 2008 URA Architectural Heritage...
Singapore's first heritage house, showcasing Peranakan lifestyle and culture, officially opened its doors Thursday evening, and gracing the occasion were President S R Nathan and Mrs Nathan. The 150-year-old Baba House was previously home to highly-respected Peranakan community leader, Tan Cheng Lock, who was president of the Malayan Chinese Association from 1949 to 1958. It was acquired by the National...
I READ “It’s the end of the Storey” (June 27) with disbelief. How serious are we as a nation about preserving what little is left of our heritage? What, exactly, are these “engineering constraints” that make it impossible to construct the Downtown Line without demolishing the New 7th Storey Hotel? Since the Bugis station already exists, would it be fair to say that they will just be doing works...