The Old Hill Street Police Station (Malay: Balai Polis Hill Street Lama) is a historic building and former Singapore Police Station, situated on Hill Street in the Museum Planning Area, within the Central Area, the central business district of Singapore.
History
Between 1845 and 1856, the Assembly Rooms occupied the current site of the Old Hill Street Police Station, a space for public functions and a building housing a theater and a school.
The construction of the Old Hill Street Police Station is the location of the first prison in Singapore. The Singapore Police Force was reorganized after a conference of troops at the Alexandra Barracks in 1915. The Singapore Police Force constructed several police stations from 1915 to 1935 to cope with growing Chinese secret society operations as a consequence of the reorganization. The steep slopes of Fort Canning had to be cut back and shored up in order to provide vehicular access behind the construction.
In 1934, G. Sturrock, Director of Public Works and Adviser for Malay States, who was also a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA), opened the Hill Street Police Station and Barracks. There were living quarters for police officers and their families in relation to the normal equipment for a police station.
During the Japanese occupation, the Kempeitai Police Station used Hill Street as a prisoner holding region and some claim as chambers of torture. It returned to being a police station after the war. Police Department’s Arms and Explosives Branch operated there from 1949 to 1981. A fresh housing system in the 1960s gave police staff the choice of living in government-built homes. With the last occupant leaving in 1979, police employees gradually moved out. The station was closed two years later and in 1983 the building was renamed Hill Street Building after renovations. It housed the Official Consignor, the Official Trustees, the Public Receiver, and the Department of Archives and Oral History (now the National Archives) and other departments of government.
It is used today by the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and Culture, Community and Youth Ministry. The National Arts Council, the National Heritage Board and the Media Development Authority are among the former occupants. On 18 December 1998, the construction of the Old Hill Street Police Station was gazetted as a national monument.
The name was altered to “MITA Building” in 1999 from Old Hill Street Police Station, followed in 2004 by “MICA Building.” The name “MICA Building” was changed to “Old Hill Street Police Station” after the ministry change in November 2012.
Architecture
The Old Hill Street Police Station was constructed in the 1930s in neo-classical style that was still fashionable for England’s government houses. The building was intended at F by the Department of Public Works. The government architect was Dorrington Ward.
With its corbelled loggias and balconies, arcades, stuccoed, rusticated surfaces and main courtyards, one big and one tiny, the six-story building has a completely Italian atmosphere. The proportions of these inner spaces are somewhat overwhelming due to the height of the building, but this is a reasonable concept as a solution to the Singapore climate issues.
The building has been regarded one of the world’s finest. It had electric lifts up to 1933, modern for its moment. It was the biggest public building in Singapore before the war when it was completed in 1934 and was considered as a contemporary skyscraper. The house has a total of 927 colorful shuttered windows. The main courtyard, the former parade grounds of the police, has been transformed into an air-conditioned atrium for art activities called The ARTrium. With its vibrant colors and ample room, the spacious ARTrium frequently features artistic performances and houses galleries of art as well.
G. Sturrock, the Director of Public Works and Counselor of Malay States formally opened the building in 1934. Built at a price of $634,263, it contained a police station with a charging room, offices and garages. It also had quarters for 140 married males, 180 single police officers, sub-inspectors as well as flats for five Asians and four European inspectors. An interesting reality is that the surrounding region, including the place where the building was located, was located. However, the Chinese who used to live there believed that it disrupted the area’s good Feng Shui when the building was erected.
The Key Features
The Old Hill Street Police Station is a six-story building covering 25,000 square meters of complete floor area. It was constructed in a typical neoclassical style during the 1930s that characterized many of England’s government houses. The façade is intended symmetrically with balconies, arcades, pillars and rough masonry blocks on the ground. The construction consists of lengthy, slender blocks surrounding two inner courtyards. The view from each room faces the streets on the outside and the courtyards on the inside.
The building has a total of 927 windows painted in rainbow color colors. The primary courtyard has been transformed into an air-conditioned atrium and a 29-meter-high glass roof shelters it. The atrium, known as Artrium@MCI, will be used to host art exhibitions and performing arts events.17 The Artrium also houses several art galleries.
The Evolution Of The Building
1934: Construction of the Hill Street Police Station and Barracks was completed. It was the largest government building at the time of its opening.
1935: It was temporarily renamed the Silver Jubilee Building to mark the 25th anniversary of King George V’s reign.
1942 – 1945: During the Japanese Occupation, the Kempeitai (Japanese Military Police) used the building to hold and interrogate suspects. They also painted it a whitish-grey and brown camouflage pattern. The police regained control of the building after the war.
1984: New occupants moved in, which included the Board of Film Censors, Oral History and Archives Department and the Public Trustees. The building now became known as the Hill Street Building.
1997: An extensive $82 million restoration project began, to transform the police station into office spaces to house the Ministry of Information and the Arts (Mita).
1998: The building was gazetted as a national monument, along with four other buildings, bringing the total number of national monuments in Singapore to 42 (at the time it was gazetted).
2000: The refurbishment was completed and Mita moved into its new headquarters. It was renamed the Mita Building.
2004: While Mita had been restructured into the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts in 2001, it adopted the Mica acronym only this year, and the building was renamed Mica Building accordingly.
2012: The building was renamed again as the Old Hill Street Police Station, after the restructuring of several ministries.
Present: Today, the 83-year-old building houses the Ministry of Communications and Information, and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.
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