Pickleball under viaduct? Rediscover 25 of Singapore’s state properties through treasure trail

SINGAPORE – On a cool Monday morning, Bob Lee cycles solo to The Alkaff Mansion, Danish Seamen’s Church Singapore and Gillman Barracks, a scenic trio in Singapore’s south-west.

While he has passed these leafy places often, he now has a new reason to step off the pedals to look around.

The three spots are on the Singapore Land Authority’s (SLA) Rediscovery Trail, an urban treasure hunt curated around 25 state properties rolled out on July 14 to celebrate the statutory board’s 25th anniversary. 

Lee, who has already speedily ridden to 12 of these locales and has until Sept 13 to leisurely complete the circuit, especially enjoyed the Danish Seamen’s Church Singapore nestled on Mount Faber.

“Its unique architecture and peaceful setting made it feel like somewhere outside Singapore,” says the owner of 808 Cycles, an authorised dealer for Brompton portable folding bicycles.

“I was surprised to learn, upon further reading, that it was initially built as a private residence by descendants of Tan Tock Seng,” adds Lee, whose 2½-hour ride also encompassed the Rail Corridor and a detour up Mount Faber. 

The route is a good motivation to cycle and learn at the same time, all done in eco-friendly style, observes the 47-year-old, whose default is to “experience Singapore in a slower and more observant way”. 

Magic for domestic daytrippers

This is the magic of the Rediscovery Trail, which invites local explorers to take a slower, closer look at the city’s architectural canvas.

At the heart of the silver jubilee campaign is the trail. An SLA spokesperson describes it as “a nationwide, self-guided experience designed to entice and delight Singaporeans by encouraging them to rediscover Singapore’s built heritage with fresh eyes”.

“Featuring 25 heritage-rich state properties and sites, the trail showcases how familiar spaces have been thoughtfully adapted to serve today’s communities, reflecting SLA’s vision of ‘Limited Land. Unlimited Space’.”

Unlike conventional trails with fixed routes, visitors can explore sites in any order at their own time and pace, the spokesperson adds.

Keeper of nation’s properties

As the custodian of Singapore’s property portfolio, the SLA stewards vacant state assets for interim use. By activating sites that the Government has not yet earmarked for immediate development, the agency routinely repurposes properties and places into vibrant lifestyle and community hubs. It manages about 11,000ha of state land and about 2,600 properties.

A set of 25 has been handpicked to showcase a variety of assets and experiences. Dotted around Singapore, the curated trail ranges from viaducts to islands, and from decommissioned schools to colonial bungalows like Heritage@Scotts, a dining, retail and wellness hub.

Popular enclaves include the New Bahru, Dempsey and Chip Bee Gardens lifestyle clusters. Also beloved are St John’s Island, Ridout Tea Garden and Temasek Shophouse.

Secrets everywhere

At all 25 places, everyday infrastructure is reimagined, and this is even more evident at slightly more hidden locales: Play pickleball and futsal at ARK Sports Village, under the concrete canopy of a flyover in Bukit Panjang. Step into a cat garden hosting mental wellness workshops at City Sprouts Bedok, once the Kampong Chai Chee Community Centre. Relax at a graffiti-walled social space where vinyls spin at sunset in 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace – the colonial police barracks-turned-indie arts enclave.

Domestic daytrippers, using the trail’s mobile web-based app, can select the state properties by region, making it easy to rediscover places close to home. Or they may choose by theme: Cafe Hoppers, Foodies, Families, History Buffs, Sporty Types, Nature Lovers, Creative Souls and Shutterbugs.

Along the way, they can be rewarded with discounts and mementos. More than 140 promotions from tenants and sub-tenants of the properties are on offer. Chip Bee Bistro, for instance, offers 50 per cent discounts for the Arveau Singapore Spritz, an equatorial drink that costs $19++. The Arveau’s botanicals include calamansi, mandarin peel and torch flower, and it is paired with lime leaf, lemon, pineapple chunks and soda.

A free photo booth session awaits at Lau Pa Sat. Across the island, there is an abundance of 10 per cent discounts for dining, retail, workshops or sports facilities.

To enjoy the perks, explorers can flash the promotion listings on the Rediscovery Trail mobile web app at participating merchants, or quote the promo codes available on the app.

There are eight mementos to be collected. Each one is a postcard paired with a magnet.

Complementing the trail, the Our Spaces, Our Stories campaign invites members of the public to share their personal memories, reflections and connections to any of the 25 featured state properties. 

Says the SLA spokesperson: “Every place has a story, and through these shared experiences, we hope to celebrate not only the transformation of Singapore’s built heritage, but also the people and communities that have shaped – and continue to shape – these spaces.” 

The Straits Times takes a closer look at two novel, repurposed properties deep in the heartland.

Playtime under concrete sky

ARK Sports Village (20A Segar Road)

Suddenly, the dead space beneath a concrete viaduct becomes a high-energy sports hub echoing with the pock-pock of five fully booked pickleball courts. It is 7.30pm on a Monday evening, yet the four adjoining futsal courts and BFT gym are also vividly alive.

Just a spectator? A wooden boardwalk offers vantage points on the action.

The sports hub abuts the Bukit Panjang Park Connector – and also the Segar Meadows HDB estate – so late-night trailgoers may even spy a wild sambar deer emerging from the greenery.

Once an underused plot under the Gali Batu Flyover, the unexpected setting for ARK Sports Village is a design triumph. Rain or shine, the overhead viaduct is an all-weather shield. 

The hub shows that even overlooked, unappealing spaces in land-scarce Singapore can be transformed for the community.

Cat ‘commewnity’, Turkish tea

City Sprouts Bedok (200 Bedok North Avenue 1)

A defunct community centre is now a sensory retreat for Turkish tea-sippers, cat lovers and badminton players elevating their game at an academy spearheaded by Singapore Olympian Liang Xiaoyu.

City Sprouts Bedok is an intergenerational third space operating out of the old Kampong Chai Chee Community Centre.

Walk past the Bedok Butterfly Garden where residents pick up local biodiversity skills. Look into The Artground – A Curious Place to be, which is an indoor playground paired with a National Library Board reading node filled with pre-loved books, such as American author Lisa Taddeo’s creative non-fiction Three Women (2019).

The Commewnity Cat Garden, where rescued cats are up for adoption, has a Nothing Purrsonal programme on mental wellness with “feline co-facilitators”.

At the Kebab & Co eatery, owner Roslan Ahmad, who once ran restaurants and a women’s spa in the Arab Street enclave, balances commercial survival with soul. He sells restaurant-quality fresh-baked sesame-studded pita paired with starters like hummus ($8.90) and other Turkish eats. Prices for kebabs range from $8.90 to $16.90.

It is a space where Grab drivers are offered free drinks. Kids, who call the 61-year-old Uncle Kebab, might eat today, and parents pay tomorrow. “I champion healthy food at heartland prices,” he says. “Some residents are here for lunch and dinner.”