Botanic Gardens’ heritage museum reopens with new exhibits, installations highlighting S’pore’s green history
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The refreshed Singapore Botanic Gardens Heritage Museum is located in the Tanglin Core of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, near Botany Centre.
PHOTO: NPARKS
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SINGAPORE - The Singapore Botanic Gardens Heritage Museum, which reopened to the public on Saturday after being closed for three months, now features new exhibits and installations.
The reopening of the museum coincides with the Gardens’ annual heritage festival, which will extend to Fort Canning Park for the first time, said the National Parks Board (NParks) in a statement on Sunday.
Visitors will be able to participate in guided tours and activities to learn more about the Republic’s green history.
The 240 sq m Heritage Museum at Holttum Hall, in the Tanglin Core of the Gardens, will include features on the latest developments, such as the Gardens’ inscription as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2015 and the completion of the Tyersall-Gallop Core – an 18ha feature in the Gardens – in 2022.
The museum, which was first opened in 2013, was closed for refurbishment in late March.
National Development Minister Desmond Lee said in a Facebook post on Sunday morning: “The museum highlights the Gardens’ contributions to the environmental, social and economic development of Singapore, and pays tribute to pioneers who laid the foundation for the Gardens to be a leading institution for tropical botany and a green space well-loved by Singaporeans.”
Exhibits of the Gardens’ milestones pertaining to various developments are divided into six zones, spread out over two levels.
Each zone will explain the different stages of development the Gardens has gone through – including its origins, its progression to a botanical institution, the Gardens during the war years and the post-independence period, its role in greening Singapore, and its transformation to its current state, NParks said.
Mr Lee said the refresh is timely as Singapore commemorates 60 years of greening in 2023.
As part of the festival, NParks has introduced a night heritage tour, where visitors will be able to explore the Gardens and get a chance to see nocturnal animals such as nightjars – a bird species – four-lined tree frogs and fruit bats.
Free shuttle bus services will be available between Botany Centre at Singapore Botanic Gardens and Fort Canning Centre at Fort Canning Park during the festival on Thursday and the upcoming weekend of July 1 and 2.
For a list of the complete programmes, people can visit .
