What's Gone - Thanks For The Memories!
Places -
Cathay Building & Cinema
Circa 2000 |
Cathay
Building & Cinema closed in December 1998. The 17th-storey building was the
tallest building in South-east Asia when it was completed in October 1939.
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Built
by Frank Brewer, it was designed as a hotel. A
subsequent glut of hotel space led to its
transformation into an office building, both by
filling in all the balconies, and making bay
windows.(1) |
The 32
luxury flats on offer came with hot and cold
water, refrigerators and the use of a squash
court. The apartments were completed in August
1941.(4) |
Upon
completion, it was also the tallest building on
the island (over 83 m high) and the first public
air-conditioned place in Singapore. It required
two years of construction, and contained, in
addition to the 1,300-seat cinema, a lounge and
bar, the Cathay Restaurant and luxury apartments.(2) |
It was
opened at the outbreak of World War II, on 2
October 1939, with Zoltán Korda's war adventure, The
Four Feathers (1939). During the Japanese
Occupation, the Japanese Broadcasting Department,
the Military Propaganda Department and Military
Information Bureau were housed in the building but
the cinema "continued its business under the
name of Dai Toa Gekkyo. Regular screenings resumed
in September 1945. Between 1945 & 1946, the
building also served as the headquarters for
Admiral Lord Mountbatten, South-East Asian Supreme
Allied Commander.(2) |
Immediately
after the war, Cathay Cinema was the first movie
theatre to re-open, although large parts of its
air-conditioning plant were missing. In
1948, LOKE Wan Tho demanded that the building be
returned to civilian use and the colonial
government vacated the various offices. In
celebration, the Cathay Restaurant was opened on 2
May 1948. (3) |
In
1954, the 60-room Cathay Hotel was opened in the
building and it later expanded to 170 rooms. By
1970, costly plans to renovate the hotel were
abandoned and the hotel reverted to office space. (3) |
Cathay building and cinema is now undergoing a
S$100-million redevelopment which will see the
construction of a new 15-storey complex,
comprising offices, apartments, cinemas, and
retail space. The historic building's brown-tiled
facade will be preserved. The new complex will be
ready by the end of 2005. (Straits Times 17 May
2003 H6) |
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More
pictures .....
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Credits: |
(1) Page
142, A History of Singapore Architecture - The Making of
a City by Jane Beamish & Jane Ferguson. (ISBN 9971
947 97 8) |
(2) Page
150, 152, Latent Images: Film In Singapore by Jan Uhde
& Yvonne Uhde. Published
by Ngee Ann Polytechnic 2000. ISBN 0 19 588714 X |
(3) Page
131, Singapore Chronicles - A Special Commemorative
History of Singapore. Published by Singapore Tatler in
1995 on the 30th anniversary of the Republic. ISBN 962
6270 93297. |
(4) Page
181, Singapore - A Pictorial History 1819 - 2000 by
Gretchen LIU. Published by Archipelago Press, an Imprint
of Editions Didier Millet. ISBN 981 3018 81 X. |
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