Fort Canning Park will be the venue of the island's main bicentennial showcase next year, and in an early birthday gift, the park on the hill will be spruced up from March.
Plans for it include the re-creation of three historical gardens, a new heritage gallery and the creative reproduction of an ancient, forgotten spring, as well as escalator access from Fort Canning MRT station to the hill's peak.
These changes, which are permanent and part of the National Parks Board's (NParks) ongoing efforts to inject life to the site, coincide with the bicentennial commemoration.
The commemoration, led by the Prime Minister's Office, will be marked by a year-long calendar of events in 2019, culminating in an exhibition harnessing technology, to highlight the island's various milestones. It will be at the Fort Canning Centre.
The announcement was made by Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong yesterday at the launch of the first Festival at the Fort, a series of activities and performances taking place this weekend and next weekend at the park.
The works by NParks will span 8ha of the historic 18ha hill. Fort Canning is the second-largest park in the city, after the 82ha Botanic Gardens.
NParks said the project will improve accessibility, especially for the elderly and disabled. It will install two sheltered sets of escalators to connect Fort Canning MRT station to the hill's peak. A covered roof will be added to the escalators that now link the park to Stamford Green. Pedestrian crossings and connections from nearby buildings will be added too.
In his speech, Mr Wong said the impression is that Fort Canning is difficult to access. "Fort Canning is really an integral part of the long history of Singapore, way before independence. We want to ensure that its stories continue to be remembered. That's why we have plans to enhance Fort Canning."
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Hill with a long history
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• The hill was believed to have been the seat of royalty for the Malay kingdom in the 1300s, and it was known as Bukit Larangan or Forbidden Hill. Early colonial personnel found sandstone foundation blocks along the hill's slope, indicating the presence of what would once have been a palatial building. Those remnants dated back to the 14th century. The hill is also home to a keramat or shrine that was named after the last king of Singapura - Sri Sultan Iskandar Shah. He spent three years as king of Singapura before the island was invaded by the Majapahit empire at the turn of the 15th century. When Singapura fell, Iskandar Shah fled to Johor and eventually founded Malacca. The settlement waned as Malacca became the leading port in the region.
• When the British arrived, Major-General William Farquhar hoisted the Union Jack on the top of the hill. It was here that Sir Stamford Raffles built his first residence. His house subsequently became the residence of colonial governors.The home was called Government House and the hill in turn was renamed Government Hill, although people also referred to it as Singapore Hill, Bukit Tuan Bonham or Sir Bonham's Hill after Governor Samuel George Bonham, and Bukit Bendera, which means Flag Hill.
• Europeans were buried on the hill in the 19th century. Some of the gravestones remain.
• Government House was demolished in 1859 to make way for an artillery fort. That construction was completed two years later by 400 Chinese coolies. Named Fort Canning after Viscount Charles John Canning, the governor-general and the first viceroy of India, it was used as a military base by the British, Japanese and Singapore's armed forces.
• In 1972, the site was renamed Central Park. It served largely as a recreational site. Apart from a swimming pool, it housed the defunct Van Kleef Aquarium and National Theatre. It was also home to a skating rink, and the former army barracks, the Fort Canning Centre of today, housed 25 squash courts, making it the world's largest squash centre in the 1970s. In 1981, the authorities renamed it Fort Canning Park again.
SOURCE: NATIONAL LIBRARY BOARD; NATIONAL PARKS BOARD; JEROME LIM
To pay homage to the forbidden spring, where royal women once bathed, NParks will erect a water feature and stone murals on the western part of the hill, where the spring likely once stood.
Fort Canning Park director Koh Poo Kiong said the objective is to create a focal point "to depict the significance of water to the site back in the day". According to old records, the stream later supplied fresh water to ships stopping at the port until 1830, when it dried up.
A dedicated heritage gallery is also set to open at the three-storey Fort Canning Centre, originally constructed as a British army barracks in 1926. Private art museum Singapore Pinacotheque de Paris moved out in 2016.
The new gallery will cover the history and natural history of the area through the 14th, 19th and 20th centuries.
Artefacts, such as jewellery, ceramics and coins dug up from various archaeological excavations at the site, are expected to be a highlight of the gallery. NParks said it will be consulting historians and the National Heritage Board for the project.
As a nod to the heritage landscapes of times past, NParks will be developing three new gardens in and around Fort Canning Park.
• The Royal Garden, which will face Stamford Road, will showcase plants such as jackfruit and rambutan. These were observed on the hill by the second British resident in Singapore, John Crawfurd, in 1822 as evidence of a 14th century palace garden.
• Part of Armenian Street will be pedestrianised by the middle of this year and turned into a park. There, NParks will re-create the island's first botanic garden, which Sir Stamford Raffles established on the eastern slope of Fort Canning Hill in 1822. NParks will plant spices introduced to Singapore between the 1820s and 1840s, such as clove and nutmeg. These trees and shrubs will also be planted along Hill Street, Victoria Street, Bras Basah Road, Handy Road and Canning Rise, which formed the boundaries of the original Botanic Garden.
• The third garden, to be named Jubilee Park, will be sited within the park, at the junction of River Valley Road and Clemenceau Avenue. The public can look forward to play areas for children, cafes, an outdoor theatre space and an event lawn for art installations, artist markets and performances.
The cost of the project has yet to be pinned down, said NParks.
On average, approximately 900,000 visitors visit the national park in a year.
Fort Canning Park, which offers sweeping views of the city, has undergone multiple phases of development and many changes of use throughout history.
Heritage blogger Jerome Lim, who visits the hill at least twice a month, said he welcomed the move to pay homage to days long gone and preserve the past through landscaping works and minor additions. He added that any intervention must be sensitively executed.
"It is important to retain the rustic and green feel of the place as it is truly a green lung in the city," he added.
NParks will also be refreshing its existing heritage trails of the site. The public can share feedback at an exhibition held at Fort Canning Centre till Feb 11 or online at www.nparks.gov.sg/fortcanning
Works will be done progressively and completed from June next year.
