SINGAPORE - The Marine Parade Community Building, which will house eateries and the town’s library, is set to be completed by the first quarter of 2026 after a slight delay.
Manpower Minister and incumbent MP for Marine Parade GRC Tan See Leng provided this update on April 20 at an event held at the Block 66 Marine Drive pavilion, where residents were given details about the upcoming development.
The building will house the Marine Parade Public Library, a rooftop running track, a gym and badminton courts, as well as food and beverage outlets.
It will also feature a 24-hour self-help lounge where residents can register for courses and events, music rooms, dance studios and a culinary studio.
The community building’s redevelopment was announced in April 2022, and was initially expected to be ready by 2025.
The original building, home to a community centre, public library and theatre company The Necessary Stage, was demolished in 2023.
In the interim, theNational Library Board set up a 24-hour book dispenser outside FairPrice Finest supermarket at 6 Marine Parade Central, where patrons can browse and borrow physical books, and collect reserved items.
Dr Tan told reporters the delay in the new building’s completion was due in part to the Covid-19 pandemic, and various parties such as theLand Transport Authority, People’s Association and the contractorwanting to ensure safety requirements were met.
The “alignment” of technical drawings and extra checks before demolition works began also contributed to the delay, he said.
Dr Tan noted that the redevelopment was a “complex” endeavour, being done on top of the Thomson-East Coast MRT line (TEL).
“We just wanted to make sure that there’s no compromise whatsoever to the integrity of the line... We cannot afford to, in any way, have any misses, because this is a project that we’re going to have for the next foreseeable 50, hopefully, 100 years.”
Dr Tan said the Marine Parade station on the TEL, which opened in June 2024, will connect directly to the Marine Parade Community Building via an underground linkway, 10,000 sq m of which will be used for a community hub.
He hopes to have social enterprises and organisations occupy the space. These include senior activity centres and cafes hiring employees with disabilities.
The building will also be linked directly to Tao Nan School across the road via an extension to the current pedestrian overhead bridge.
Mr Joseph Yap, 51, a Marine Drive resident, said he was excited about the opening of the community building.
The corporate finance professional said he looks forward to using the gym and badminton courts, and spending time with his wife and 15-year-old daughter at the eateries and library there.
On the delayed opening, he said: “There are always challenges in construction – same for our MRT project in the past, but now we enjoy the benefits of TEL. It’s more important to have good and quality facilities, rather than rushing into it.”
In an interview with the media after the event, Dr Tan was asked how much international geopolitical challenges mattered to residents in this general election, aside from municipal developments such as the community building.
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Dr Tan said Singapore will always have to deal with externalities beyond its control, including epidemics and pandemics.
“We are an open country, open economy.”
Dr Tan added that he is part of the new Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce set up by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on April 8 to help Singapore businesses and workers navigate uncertainties sparked by the sweeping tariffs imposed by the US.
The task force will, for instance, foster regular three-way communication between the Government, businesses and workers to give updates on developments, explain how schemes and measures can support them, and assess their impact.
Dr Tan said the task force is working out plans.
“With the fact that now the tariffs have been imposed and so many countries are being affected all at one go, we have every reason to carefully plan, to deliberate, to calibrate, and to also proactively and preemptively decide on how we’re going to move.”
He added: “What we need to do is get through this election.
“Of course, we all hope that the stronger the support we have from the people... when we negotiate at all these global platforms, we can negotiate with a very clear mandate entrusted upon us.”
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