A 32-year-old McDonald's outlet at Ridout Tea Garden will be closing its doors in December.
A spokesman for the American fast-food chain told The Straits Times yesterday that the outlet will cease operations upon the expiry of its lease, but did not elaborate further.
The Ridout outlet, in Queenstown, is among the oldest operational McDonald's outlets here, having opened its doors to customers in 1989.
The oldest operational outlet is at People's Park Complex. It has been operational since 1979 - the same year that McDonald's made its Singapore debut at Liat Towers.
Ridout Tea Garden was built at a cost of $500,000 by the Housing Board in 1980 at the spot formerly occupied by Queenstown Japanese Garden, which was razed in a June 1978 fire.
The old garden, which was built in 1970, had 23 shops; the new garden has a single-storey eating house pavilion.
Built beside a pond, the pavilion housed a KFC outlet from 1981 that McDonald's eventually replaced.
Its closure follows that of other iconic McDonald's outlets over the past decade, such as the 23-year-old outlet at King Albert Park that shut in 2014 and the 30-year-old outlet at Marine Cove, which closed in 2012.
A spokesman for the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), which currently manages the garden, told ST yesterday that the 57,453.9 sq ft site, which includes surrounding greenery, has been tenanted through an open tender since April 1, 2016. It includes two lettable units, one of which is occupied by McDonald's.
SLA said that the tenancy for the site will be expiring on Dec 31 this year, and that the authority has launched a tender for it.
When ST visited the site yesterday, the other unit was empty.
McDonald's staff that ST spoke to said they were unaware of the impending closure, and declined to comment further.
ST understands that the longest-serving staff member at the outlet has been working there for about 13 years.
Customers reminisced about the outlet when told about its impending closure.
Queenstown resident Ethan Ong said he will miss his family's weekend breakfast spot, which they affectionately call "the turtle place" after the fish and turtle pond the garden is known for.
"I remember going there since I was about five because it was near my grandparents' home in Farrer Road," said the 24-year-old student, who added that he recalls running around the pond as his parents ordered food.
