Source : Straits Times – 17 Sep 2009
AN OLD boy of Catholic High Secondary School is revamping the school’s old campus at 222 Queen Street by turning it into an arts centre.
Property developer Daniel Teo is one of two private parties who have successfully bid on government-owned sites with a view to converting them into private museums.
The other is commercial art gallery Linda Gallery, which will turn a site at Loewen Road in the leafy Tanglin Village area into a centre for Asian contemporary art.
The new developments were announced yesterday by Mr Sam Tan, who is parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (Mica).
He was the guest-of-honour at the Business of Heritage conference at the National Museum, a one-day event which drew nearly 200 gallery owners, museum curators and tour operators.
The National Heritage Board (NHB) and Singapore Land Authority (SLA) had last year put out a call for proposals to develop three state properties into integrated arts facilities.
Nine proposals for private museums, showcasing everything from calligraphy to artefacts, came in.
The proposals were judged by a committee comprising representatives of the NHB, Mica, the SLA and the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Two out of the three sites have been rented out on nine-year leases at a rate that is estimated to be about 20per cent below market rate, as these properties are being used for civic, community and institutional purposes.
None of the three proposals submitted for the third site at 27B Loewen Road were selected.
Mr Teo, 66, chairman of real estate group Hong How Group, said he has fond memories of his old school, which is now located in Bishan.
The art collector, who was a student there from 1956 to 1961, told a press conference yesterday: ‘Catholic High is my alma mater and I spent the best years of my life there. It was a golden age.’
The four-storey building, built in 1938, has a floor area of 5,249 sq m. At least $2.5 million will be sunk into renovation and the centre is scheduled to open next month.
Mr Teo, who is married to former Singapore Dance Theatre director Goh Soo Khim, 65, said that a section of the building will be devoted to the performing arts.
The rest of the space will be given to: a museum of popular culture, a cafe and two small cinemas, all run by Sinema, which showcases independent films; Mr Teo’s art collection, and other food and beverage outlets. There will be no entry fee to the centre.
Linda Gallery, a prominent gallery group which has branches in Singapore, Jakarta and Beijing’s 798 Art Zone, is spending at least $2 million to develop the other site, located in Loewen Road.
The 13,107 sq m site comprises three buildings, which are former British army barracks.
The largest building, 27A, will be used as a private museum displaying Asian contemporary art from the collection of Linda Gallery owners Ali Kusno and Linda Ma, as well as artworks from other private collectors and overseas museums. There will also be an outdoor sculpture garden, a cafe and a museum shop. Visitors will have to pay an entrance fee to the museum.
Mr Ali, 50, said: ‘The works are not for sale, only for display. We want to show that art is not just for rich people, but for everybody.’
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