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Oldest S'pore bus stop to be preserved: LTA
26 June 08
It emerged most popular landmark in Straits Times poll; Queenstown library ranked second
A 1970s bus stop due to be razed as part of improvement works will now be saved.
The concrete-and-metal structure is one of four along Old Choa Chu Kang Road and the oldest type of bus stop here.
It was featured with 10 other landmarks in a June 7 Straits Times feature headlined 'Landmarks at risk?'. Readers were asked to go to straitstimes.com and vote for the one they felt should be preserved.
The bus stop turned out to be the most popular pick, drawing 27 per cent of the 1,103 votes cast in the week-long poll.
The readers have spoken - and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has listened. It is now reviewing its plan to replace the bus stop as part of upgrading works.
Its spokesman told The Straits Times: 'The LTA appreciates the unique value of Singapore's heritage properties. In recognition of their importance, we are in fact looking at how best we might preserve one of the early-period bus stops.'
Coming in second in the poll was Queenstown Community Library, which got 15 per cent of vote, followed by retail and residential development Golden Mile Complex (12 per cent) and the Housing Board blocks of flats making up Tanjong Pagar Plaza (11 per cent).
The 11 heritage buildings and structures featured were built in the early years of Singapore's nationhood, but have yet to be given protection from demolition.
The reprieve for the bus stop has delighted readers like Ms Pearl Wong, who had planned to take pictures there with her siblings.
The image consultant, in her 40s, saying the Straits Times report brought back warm memories for her, added: 'It'd be such a pity if Singapore wipes out everything from the past, and have everything plastic and clinical. You shouldn't wipe out memories of the 1960s and 1970s.'
The fate of Queenstown Community Library, remains uncertain.
The modest two-storey building in Margaret Drive - the lease on whose site comes up for renewal in 2010 - was Singapore's first full-time branch library when it opened in 1969. The public housing blocks around it are being redeveloped.
The National Library Board (NLB) was non-committal about keeping the structure. It said: 'As with all public libraries in Singapore, it is important to separate the building from the services provided.'
It added that it will strive to ensure that library and information services stay relevant to its users' changing needs.
But NLB director of reading initiatives Kiang-Koh Lai Lin, who worked at the branch from 1980 to 1982, said she was heartened by the poll results.
'If the building is preserved, it could be a library museum, to display perhaps old library cards and machines,' she suggested.
It remains to be seen if the other popular buildings will be torn down to make way for new developments.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority, which picks landmarks for conservation, would only say it noted the results of the Straits Times poll and 'would take them into consideration in our ongoing efforts to strike a balance between preserving the built heritage of Singapore and providing for Singapore's future economic needs'.
By Tan Hui Yee, Housing Correspondent
READERS cast 1,103 votes on 11 buildings and structures they want to see saved. Here is the percentage of votes each landmark received:
1. 1970s bus stop, Old Choa Chu Kang Road: 27
2. Queenstown Community Library, Margaret Drive: 15
3. Golden Mile Complex, Beach Road: 12
4. Tanjong Pagar Plaza, Tanjong Pagar Road: 11
5. Former Nan Chiau High School, Kim Yam Road: 9
6. Former Ministry of Education headquarters, Kay Siang Road: 8
7. Former Havelock Primary School, Ganges Avenue: 6
8. Pandan Valley condominium, Ulu Pandan Road: 4
9. Singapore Improvement Trust flats, Dakota Crescent: 4
10. Former Singapore Polytechnic, Prince Edward Road: 2
11. Former Telok Kurau West Primary School, Lorong J Telok Kurau: 2