Dying Landmarks in the City
October 29, 2022
By Valerie Tang

 

At 9pm on June 26 2022, the Cathay Cineplex at 2 Handy Road screened its last movie—Top Gun: Maverick—before shuttering its doors forever.1 Operator mm2 Asia, which has been running the network of Cathay Cineplex theatres since 2017, identified the closure as a “business decision”, explaining it as “part of the cost rationalization process for its cinema operations”.2

The Cathay Cinema was opened on 3 October 1939, as the first section of the historic Cathay Building to be completed. It was a 1,321-seat cinema that was also Singapore’s first air-conditioned public space.3 The cinema subsequently became a cineplex with the addition of 2 screens in the 1990s, and re-opened as the Cathay Cineplex in 2006 with a total of seven screens.4

 

Figure 1: A night-time image of the Cathay in 1954. (Image courtesy of Cinema Treasures)

 

The Cathay Cineplex is not the only space recently lost to modern development. In 2020, the tenants of Shaw Tower at Beach Road were told to vacate the building by end-June, in preparation for the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Ophir-Rochor corridor rejuvenation plan.5 Shaw Tower has now been demolished, with plans for an eco-friendly, futuristic building cluster in its place by 2025.6 Built in the popular Brutalist style of the post-war 1950s—an architectural movement which favoured functionality and striking geometrical features—the building was completed in 1974, at the time boasting the label of being Singapore’s tallest skyscraper.7

 

Figure 2: Shaw Tower in 2020. (Image courtesy of Property News Insider)

 

In 1988, within the building’s iconic waffle-esque facade, Shaw Organisation opened Singapore’s first cineplexes by the names of Prince and Jade. Shortly after its opening, the Prince Theatre earned close to one million in box office sales for the classic 1975 blockbuster film Jaws.8 Owing to competition from growing new cinemas, the theatres began to diminish in popularity and eventually closed in 2009, after 21 years of operation.

Reading about these buildings that are no more produced in me an impulse to see what I still could for myself. Armed with my nonexistent photography skills, I went on a romp around central Singapore in an effort to catch a few fading landmarks before it was too late. 

An amateur, her camera, and many photos

 

Figure 3: The entrance to the Cathay.

 

I started my journey at the Cathay, arriving there one offensively hot Sunday afternoon. Inside had a smattering of cosy cafes, attended to by a moderately-sized crowd. As the timestamps will inform you, this was months after the closure of the cineplex. The building’s historic facade has been preserved, and is not likely to be demolished anytime soon given the Cathay’s status as a national monument.9 

However, I was interested to see the space once occupied by the Cathay cineplex, which now houses a pop-up by independent cinema the Projector. I went up four levels to Projector X: Picturehouse, and snuck a few photos.

 

 

Figure 4: The escalator up to Level 5 opens directly into the Projector pop-up.

 

Figure 5: Apart from screening films, the pop-up holds live performances and serves alcohol.

 

Figure 6: The decor pays homage to cinema culture of years past.

 

After visiting the Cathay, I made my way down to Golden Mile Complex on Beach Road. Shortly after being gazetted as a conserved building in 2021, Golden Mile Complex was sold May this year to a consortium for S$700 million.10 There are plans for the building—which was erected in 1973—to be “sensitively restored”, in the words of the developers.

 

Figure 7: Another Brutalist building, the complex is noted for its iconic step-terraced structure. (Image courtesy of The Business Times)

 

Figure 8: All tenants must vacate the premises by May 2023.

 

Figure 9: A religious ceremony was ongoing while I was there.

 

I ended my day in Fort Canning Park, where I chanced upon this monument in a quiet corner.

 

Figure 10: A replica of the facade of the old National Theatre, Singapore’s first arts venue.

 

Figure 11: It closed in 1984 and was demolished in 1986 to make way for the building of an expressway.11

 

Figure 12: The points of the structure were designed to look like five stars, and together with the crescent-shaped water fountain represented the Singapore flag. (Image courtesy of AWP Architects)

 

Figure 13: The information board says it all.

 

Buildings are powerful receptacles of memory, featuring heavily in our everyday as spaces in which we work, play, eat, and live. The loss of any building central to our lives necessarily evokes some form of emotion, be it nostalgia, regret, or indignation. 

Golden Mile Complex and the Cathay are not lost in that their facade remains, however their redevelopment marks them as changing spaces emblematic of the pervasiveness of modern development. There is nothing to condemn about this, but something must be spared for the structures of Singapore’s history.

 

 

References

  1. Lui, John, and Shannon Ling. “The Cathay Cineplex in Handy Road, One of Singapore’s Oldest Cinemas, to Close after June 26.” The Straits Times, June 17, 2022. https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/iconic-cinema-the-cathay-to-close-from-june-26.
  2. Ang Hwee Min. “A Subdued Final Day as the Cathay Cineplex Draws the Curtain on Operations.” CNA. Accessed October 26, 2022. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/cathay-cineplex-last-day-operations-moviegoers-final-screenings-2771741.
  3. “Arts.” Infopedia. Accessed October 26, 2022. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_532_2004-12-17.html.
  4. “Cathay Cineplex Cinemas.” Cinema Treasures. Accessed October 26, 2022. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1885.
  5. “Shaw Tower Will Be Gone by 2023.” Mothership.SG – News from Singapore, Asia and around the world. Accessed October 26, 2022. https://mothership.sg/2019/08/shaw-tower-redevelopment/.
  6. Iremembersg. “Brutarch.” Issuu, June 13, 2014. https://issuu.com/iremembersg/docs/brutalist_architecture.
  7. “New Look Shaw Tower Revealed.” Corporate Locations. Accessed October 26, 2022. https://www.corporatelocations.com.sg/updates/new-look-shaw-tower.php#:~:text=Shaw%20Tower%2C%20the%20grand%20old,be%20around%20560%2C000%20sq%20ft.
  8. “Goodbye to the Iconic Landmarks of Shaw Tower and Liang Court.” Remember Singapore, July 23, 2021. https://remembersingapore.org/2021/07/23/shaw-tower-liang-court-demolition/.
  9. Chelvan, Vanessa Paige. “5 Things You May Not Know about the Cathay Building.” CNA. Accessed October 26, 2022. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/5-things-may-not-know-cathay-building-cinema-2757831.
  10. Cheryl Lin. “Conserved Building Golden Mile Complex Sold En Bloc for S$700 Million to Consortium.” CNA. Accessed October 26, 2022. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/golden-mile-complex-en-bloc-sold-700-million-2668566.
  11. “Arts.” Infopedia. Accessed October 26, 2022. https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_800_2005-01-18.html.

 

Our 2022 articles offered a selection across four broad categories to facilitate your perusal. This article was part of the THINK category: Essays and analysis to spark greater thought into the films programmed and ideas discussed. For the curious and thinkers.