Thanks for 30 great years. Substation 1.0, signing out.

The Substation shut its doors at 45 Armenian Street for the last time last Friday, closing a chapter in its 30-year history as an incubator for the arts.

The iconic building that housed an independent arts centre has now been returned to the National Arts Council (NAC), which will spend two years renovating the structure - a former power substation - for use as a multi-tenanted arts centre.

The Substation's final weeks in Armenian Street were marked by a few performances and a flurry of packing and dismantling.

Notes written by arts lovers during the centre's SeptFest in March fluttered on a pinboard.

Some people left flowers.

Old leaflets and programmes were hauled out and arranged in stacks for a garage sale that was to take place in the gallery on July 25 but had to be cancelled because of tightened Covid-19 measures.

Contractors, armed with hammers and welding equipment, stripped the facade of its entrance signs, and the theatre of its seats.

But The Substation, whose fate has been bemoaned by the arts community, might not be taking its final bow yet.

On July 23, it announced that it would "evolve from being an arts centre to become an arts company focused on developing original programming" - following its earlier decision to close for good after handing the venue back to the NAC.

"Substation 2.0", which has not found a home yet, will be helmed by a small group of former staff, including co-artistic director Raka Maitra. It also plans to continue serving as a platform for emerging and independent artists.

The Substation was founded in 1990 by theatre doyen Kuo Pao Kun and gained a reputation as a playground for artists to experiment and show their works.

On July 18, its last operational day, arts lovers gathered for a few shows - A Quiet Afternoon by musicians Hell Low and Tentang Langit, who performed songs inspired by Singapore; and Street Found by street performer Roy Payamal, which also featured readings and works by other artists.

One of the audience members was freelance arts worker Nina Chabra, 40, who looked back fondly on the conversations she had in the arts centre's old coffee shop.

Of the performances she had seen at the centre, she said: "There was always some form of genre-bending to the material... In one afternoon, there could be punk, metal and every genre under the sun."

Mr Ridhwan Ghany, 46, who ran the Straits Records store at the centre, said: "This place provided an avenue for all kinds of people to share their work as long as they thought their work was worth sharing. In fact, you did not even have to identify as an artist. I feel that was a very scary word for people.

"This place really was the prime location for people to be their most uninhibited, free and truest selves."

E-learning developer Eswandy Sarip, 43, a musician who used to play at The Substation, says: "Other art studios and performance centres give you KPIs (key performance indicators), requirements, themes and whatnot to tell you, the artist, what art is. But this place really left the incubation to the artists themselves.

"Once places like this are closed, there will just be more and more governance of art."

Freelance artist and writer Vanessa Victoria, 33, says: "Everybody has a different memory of The Substation. Some people remember the shows, some remember the dramas, some people remember the visuals. Some people remember literally just sitting out here smoking. It was really an institution."