SINGAPORE BADMINTON HALL
The history of the Singapore Badminton Hall (SBH) at 100 Guillemard Road can be traced back to the first few Thomas Cup tournaments, URA said.
Designed by pioneer Singaporean architect Ng Keng Siang and completed in June 1952, the hall hosted the third and fourth editions in 1955 and 1958.
It became the nurturing ground for top local badminton talents in the 1950s, such as Wong Peng Soon, Ismail Marjan and Ong Poh Lim.
The multi-purpose hall hosted other sporting competitions such as sepak takraw, table tennis and billiards, as well as entertainment events like movie screenings.
In 1962, the hall was used as the vote-counting venue for the referendum to merge Singapore, Brunei, Sarawak, Sabah and the Federation of Malay States to form Malaysia.
“These are important milestones in the development of Singapore’s local sports scene as well as historic events in our nation’s history,” said URA, adding that the National Heritage Board had marked the hall as a historic site in 1999.
“Today, it stands as an important marker of local identity and a repository of social memories.”
URA said it will propose to conserve the building as a “symbol of Singapore’s humble beginnings and to mark historic moments in the local sports scene and our nation’s evolution”.
