SINGAPORE – Heritage experts and members of the architectural community are calling on the authorities to incorporate the Singapore Indoor Stadium (SIS) into their plans for the Kallang Alive precinct, as the Government works out options for a new indoor arena to be built in the area.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong announced on March 7 that a new indoor arena that is “best in class globally” will be built adjacent to the SIS, citing the competition from newer, modern indoor arenas in the region.

He said the SIS will continue to operate until the new arena is up and running. The authorities will study future plans for the SIS and provide more details when ready, he added.

The announcement has caused concern among local architecture and heritage advocates, who worry that the iconic stadium’s days are numbered.

Architectural historian Chang Jiat-Hwee, a member of non-profit heritage group Docomomo Singapore’s executive committee, said the SIS, which opened in end-1989, is “undoubtedly an integral part of” Singapore’s modernist heritage.

He urged the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) – which oversees the National Heritage Board – to engage experts to assess if the requirements it has for the new arena can be met through a retrofit of the existing stadium.

Speaking on behalf of the non-profit group, Dr Chang said: “As this concerns the fate of an important modernist structure, the assessment should be shared publicly.”

If a refurbished SIS cannot meet the standards of a modern indoor arena, he added, then MCCY should conduct a heritage impact assessment to understand how the new development might affect the existing stadium, and make its findings public.

“It would be very ironic if the very ministry tasked to take care of the nation’s heritage destroys the very heritage it has stewardship of, whether deliberately or inadvertently,” said Dr Chang.

International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) Singapore president Kevin Tan noted that the SIS was designed by Kenzo Tange, “one of the most important Asian architects of the last half-century”, who was chosen to design the indoor stadium because of his track record and previous work in 1972 on a masterplan for a national sports complex in Kallang.

Adding that the most important design element of indoor stadiums is their roofs, Dr Chang said the SIS – sited prominently at the waterfront – has an elegant inverted curved roof that makes it visible from a distance and a unique diamond-shaped profile.

“In fact, Arup, the architects and engineers behind the National Stadium, designed the dome of the building to complement the profile of the SIS,” said Dr Chang, who added that the SIS is the only stadium that the late Professor Tange designed outside of Japan.

Asked about the impact that replacing the SIS would have on the Government’s aim to build a sense of affinity between Singaporeans and the Sports Hub, Dr Tan of Icomos Singapore said razing it “would be anathema to ‘building affinity’”.

“You would obliterate all those memories and connections once you tear the building down,” he said. “Then you need to start all over again.”

Dr Tan added that the SIS has, over the years, become “almost as iconic as the old National Stadium”, adding that it has amassed a huge well of social memories like the grand old dame, which opened in 1973 and was fully demolished in 2011.

Mr Tong had on March 7 said the new arena should be able to host more sophisticated events, have faster turnaround time between events, and offer greater value to spectators such as more varied hospitality suites and better seating.

Asked for more details of its plans, such as whether a study has been done to determine that the SIS cannot be retrofitted to meet present-day demands, MCCY reiterated points that Mr Tong had previously made and said it is working out plans for the new indoor arena.

The ministry also did not specify where exactly the new indoor arena would be built.

In June 2022, the ministry had said the Kallang Theatre – currently adjacent to the SIS – will be redeveloped into an integrated development that includes “a multi-purpose indoor arena capable of hosting esports, sporting and entertainment events, and a themed hotel”.

Singapore Badminton Association chief executive officer Alan Ow said he understands the need for an upgraded indoor arena, given advancements in sport and hospitality.

Citing the SIS’ current and only hospitality lounge, he said guests cannot hear the action while in it, and often spend time elsewhere to soak in the atmosphere.

He added that sporting technology has progressed since the SIS was built, citing how seats have to be sacrificed at the SIS when Hawk-Eye technology – a computer vision system that assists umpires – is installed for the Singapore Badminton Open.

“While there is plenty of nostalgia involved with the current stadium, sports technology, as well as customer and sponsor engagement, has moved on, and from that perspective we embrace the announcement of a new arena,” he said.

Singapore Floorball Association president Ben Ow said the SIS’ lighting system is “backdated”, and that organisers have to spend more on systems to achieve the lighting effects they want.

Dr Tan said that while he is sympathetic to the need for a more modern arena, he hopes the SIS will not be torn down after the new facility is ready.

Architect Melvin Tan, president of the Singapore Institute of Architects, said “it will be excellent if the new infrastructure is built in tandem with an adapted reuse of the existing SIS, rather than be thought of as a new standalone”.

Considering the magnitude of the SIS in terms of size as well as its cultural and historical significance, a holistic approach comprising a “robust study that will include the viability and feasibility of reusing the existing SIS” is justified, he added.

Highlighting the climate impact of demolition, Dr Chang said it is not uncommon for iconic old stadiums to be retrofitted and upgraded to meet contemporary requirements.

He cited Munich’s Olympiastadion by Frei Otto and Gunther Behnisch, which opened in 1972, and another of Prof Tange’s buildings – the much-celebrated and cherished Yoyogi National Gymnasium, completed in 1964 for the Summer Olympics, and renovated ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Games.

While noting that the SIS’ value should be evaluated on its own merits rather than just for its architect, Mr Tan said the stadium is an icon and landmark of the Kallang precinct in the eyes and lives of many Singaporeans.

It is right for Singapore to value the “world greats” – such as Prof Tange – who have contributed to Singapore’s nation-building journey, he added.

News of Prof Tange’s appointment to design the SIS in September 1985 had sparked backlash from the local architectural community, which felt the project was well within the capability of local firms. Then-president of the Singapore Institute of Architects Gan Eng Oon said the institute had asked the authorities to hold an open competition for the indoor stadium’s design about a year before, only to find out from the media in 1985 that Prof Tange had been chosen.

Singapore architecture has come a long way since then, said Mr Tan, adding that he is confident local architects today will be able to achieve world-class standards and should be allowed to have a go at designing the Kallang Alive precinct’s new buildings.

“The institute would strongly advocate a design competition for our architects to envision the future of Kallang,” he said.

Mr Ben Ow hopes the new arena will have a multi-sport set-up that athletes can use for training. For his association, this would mean having the right flooring, he said, noting that more money had to be spent to install suitable mats when floorball competitions were hosted at the OCBC Arena – a series of indoor sports halls that are part of the Sports Hub.

Dr Harvey Neo, a professorial research fellow at the Singapore University of Technology and Design’s Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, said Singaporeans will build an affinity with the proposed new arena if it complements and does not duplicate existing venues.

“The new arena must be able to host a wider range of events with varying sizes of audience, compared with the SIS, in order to draw more Singaporeans to visit it,” he said.

He added that the current stadium might be seen by visitors as a functional space for sporting events and concerts rather than as a distinct part of people’s identities, which may result in them remembering artistes and sports stars they have watched there rather than reminiscing over memories of the building.

As the Government continues to deliberate over the new arena, Mr Tan said it “needs to have a compelling case for utilisation and enjoyment to the everyday Singaporean”.