SINGAPORE – The Jurong Regional Library will be relocated to the upcoming Jurong East Integrated Transport Hub, which is slated for completion in 2027.
The integrated hub will also house a community club, a sports centre, offices and retail space in a 27-storey tower block that will be connected to an eight-storey podium by a bridge.
On Nov 3, The Straits Times reported that the library will be among several buildings affected by the next phase of development for Jurong Lake District. Two ST readers subsequently made their case for the library to be retained in separate forum letters, and urged the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to consider public opinions on the planned relocation before acting on it.
In response, the authorities said in a forum letter on Tuesday that the relocated library – which is slated to open in 2028 – will allow for greater accessibility and convenience, given its location beside Jurong East MRT station.
The letter, signed by URA group director for physical planning Yvonne Lim and the National Library Board’s Planning and Development Division director Wan Wee Pin, said the relocated library will be comparable in size with the current library.
Sited about 350m from Jurong East MRT station, the current library was originally opened in August 1988 as Jurong East Community Library, before undergoing refurbishment and reopening as Singapore’s third regional library in June 2004. It has a 12,020 sq m floor area spanning four floors and a basement.
Locating the library and other community facilities at the transport hub “will create a community hub in a highly accessible location to serve residents in the west region”, said Ms Lim and Mr Wan.
“This will complement the vibrant commercial node that currently exists around Jurong East MRT station,” they said, adding that more details on the relocated library will be announced when ready.
Jurong East resident Chan Pei Hao, 27, said that while the current library compound is not too far from the MRT station, having the library located right next to the station will make it even more accessible to people.
He hopes the mix of amenities in the upcoming hub will allow people from different walks of life to socialise, and that the sports centre will have a good mix of facilities that appeal to various age groups, such as a bouldering wall, basketball and badminton courts and table tennis tables.
Mr Chan, a finance analyst in the healthcare industry, said the hub, when completed, will bring sporting facilities to within a 15-minute walk from his home – about half the time it takes him to get to Bukit Gombak Sports Hall by public transport.
Ms Goh Pei Sze, who frequents the library with her children aged five and nine, said the current library is a standalone building in a quiet corner of Jurong East, which makes it conducive for students to study as it is located away from crowds. Noting that the relocated library is likely to attract more visitors, the 41-year-old housewife said she hopes it will have ample spaces for visitors to relax and unwind over a book, like the current library.
Construction for the integrated transport hub began in 2021, and a protective structure is currently being erected on a 860m stretch of railway tracks that extend from Jurong East MRT station.
A Land Transport Authority spokesman said the temporary protection enclosure will be installed on existing railway viaducts to protect them and passing trains from potential debris or falling objects from ongoing construction works for the Jurong Region Line, as well as the hub.
