Asian Civilisations Museum (Empress Place Building)

The Asian Civilisation Museum at Empress Place is next to the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall.  The Empress Place Building houses the second wing of the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) and focuses on Southeast, South and West Asian collections.

The Empress Place Building was built in 1865 and was named after Queen Victoria, Queen of England and Empress of India.  The building housed many government departments in its history, including the Registry of Births and Deaths.  It was gazetted as a National Monument on 14 February 1992.

Asian Civilisation Museum (Armenian Street)

The first Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) is also located in the Civic District, along Armenian Street.  It opened on 22 April 1997.  Among its galleries focusing on Southeast Asian Civilisations is a permanent exhibition known as the Peranakan Legacy.  The Peranakan culture is a blend of Chinese, Malay and European cultures.

The ACM building was previously the home of the well-known Tao Nan School for about 70 years until the school moved to Marine Parade in the mid-1980s.  Plans are afoot to convert this museum into a Peranakan-themed museum by 2008.  It was gazetted as a National Monument in 1998.

Singapore Philatelic Museum

A country’s political, social and economic milestones are often highlighted in its stamps.  The Singapore Philatelic Museum (SPM), opened in 1995, is the custodian of Singapore’s postal history and Southeast Asia’s first philatelic museum.

The building housing the museum was originally part of the old Anglo-Chinese School.  It was designed by Tomlinson and Lermit Architects and commissioned by the Trustees of the Anglo Chinese School in 1906 as an additional school building to Oldham Hall which had been built in 1897.  The building was used as a Methodist Book Room from the 1970s until it was restored to its original glory in 1995.

An antique red-painted postbox graces the entrance of the museum.  A vestige of Singapore’s days as a British Colony, this heritage mailbox may be used for mailing letters and postcards.

This unique little museum in the Civic District is located on the Coleman Street side of Fort Canning Park and faces Singapore’s oldest surviving church, the Armenian Church.

(cont’d from previous page)… was demolished in 2005 to make way for a traffic tunnel.  After a multi-million-dollar renovation and expansion (2002-2006), the museum reopened as the National Museum of Singapore in December 2006.  The National Museum was gazetted as a National Monument on 14 February 1992.

Singapore History Museum

The first purpose-built museum building in Singapore is the Singapore History Museum or National Museum located at the junction of Stamford Road and Fort Canning Road.  The museum was originally a section of the Raffles Library, located at the Singapore Institution.  Between 1872 and 1876, the Library and Museum was situated at the Town Hall (now Victoria Concert Hall), but moved back to Raffles Institution when space proved insufficient.  In 1882, the Colonial Government commissioned a brand new building for the Library and Museum.  The original design for this building was by Sir Henry McCullum but it proved too expensive to build.  A scaled down version of McCullum’s building was designed by Colonial Engineer JFA McNair.

The building was extended in 1906, 1916, 1926 and 1934.  In 1960, the Library split from the Museum and occupied its own building just next door.  The National Library Building… (to be cont’d in next page)

Singapore Art Museum

The Singapore Art Museum, which opened in December 1996, has a large collection of Southeast Asian art works, including Singapore’s national art collection.  The museum complex was, for many years, the home of the well-known Catholic school, St Joseph’s Institution (SJI).  The school was set up by Father Jean Marie Beurel in 1846 in a wooden shed in the grounds of the Cathedral of Good Shepherd across the street from this building.  The foundation stone of the central block of this building was designed by Brother Lothaire, a French priest-architect.

Over the years, new features and extensions were made to the school.  Many of these features have been well preserved.

St Joseph’s Institution occupied this building from 1855 to 1988 when it moved to its new premises in Malcolm Road.

This building was gazetted as a National Monument on 14 February 1992.

National Stadium

Singapore’s largest sport landmark is the National Stadium, which was opened on 31 July 1973.  It has a seating capacity of over 50,000 with an additional 8,000 sq metres of space for exhibitions, shops and training facilities.

Plans for the National Stadium were drafted in 1965 and in 1966, the first pile was driven into the ground.  In July 1973, the National Stadium was completed in time for Singapore to host the 7th Southeast Asian Peninsular (SEAP) Games.  Since then, numerous sports events, concerts and other events were held at the Stadium.  During the peak of the Malaysia Cup soccer competition, the stadium overflowed with fans whose vociferous cheering gave brith to the fabled Kallang Roar.

The biggest non-sports event held at the stadium is the National Day Parade.  As the Stadium will be torn down in 2007 to make way for a new sports complex (with seating capacity of 55,000 and a retractable roof), it hosted its last National Day Parade on 9 August 2006.  The new stadium will be ready in 2010.