Early start to heritage studies for Bukit Timah Turf City is paying off

Decision to conserve 22 buildings will allow residents of estate to appreciate its history

- Ng Keng Gene

A study published in 2021 found a swimming pool complex in the Old Police Academy at Mount Pleasant to be among the most significant in terms of heritage value, second only to a Senior Police Officers' Mess.

The heritage study—meant to guide the development of the 33ha Mount Pleasant housing estate—said the complex was where trainees learnt swimming and life-saving skills, and police officers and their families spent their leisure time.

Despite the findings, demolition work began on the complex within the past year, close to five decades after it was completed in 1976.

Six buildings in Mount Pleasant have been conserved in all—four will be repurposed within the upcoming housing estate, while the other two, including the Senior Police Officers' Mess, are just outside of it.

In contrast, 22 buildings are slated for conservation within an upcoming residential estate at the old 176ha Bukit Timah Turf City, including two grandstands that a separate heritage study identified as the site's most exceptional buildings.

The differing outcomes for the two sites' most significant buildings can be explained largely by the timing of the two studies vis-a-vis planning and building works for the future estates.

When the Old Police Academy study started in 2018, six buildings and ancillary structures had already been demolished after the Land Transport Authority began work on Mount Pleasant MRT station within the academy's compound in early 2015.

The underground station's location—just next to the swimming pool complex—had been fixed since 2014, under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) masterplan.

In comparison, heritage studies on the area near the two grandstands in Turf City were completed before the Government announced in September 2022 that a future MRT station will be located near the two stands.