HARP: Historic Architecture Rescue Plan

Welcome and a big THANK YOU for your interest in HARP, the Historic Architecture Rescue Plan.

The very fact that you’re taking time to read this little document shows that you are somewhat interested or at least intrigued by our aims and what we hope to accomplish with your help and support.

What is HARP?
The Historic Architecture Rescue Plan is an interest group which was formed after the sudden and unnecessary demolition of a 1930s Art-deco building at Allenby Road which formerly housed the film archives of a local film maker.

HARP members are known as Rescuers and all Rescuers believe there is a need to create an increased awareness of noteworthy buildings which may be in danger of demolition and deserve conservation.

How do I join HARP?
To sign up, send an email to harp_rescue@yahoo.com

What does HARP aim to achieve?
HARP’s long term goal is to foster an environment where owners of heritage properties are aware of the social responsibility they shoulder as proprietors of such unique properties and will voluntarily come forward to offer to put their buildings on the URA’s conservation list. Through the collective effort of HARP Rescuers, HARP hopes to persuade owners of old buildings that conservation should not be viewed as a hindrance but as a way to build and design creatively.

Isn’t this what the URA is doing?
The URA has done well in managing to gazette more than 6000 individual properties as heritage properties but many more buildings which possess significant historical / architectural merit continue to be in danger of demolition due to soaring land prices.

Surprisingly not all properties inside “historic districts” such as Geylang, Katong or Jalan Besar are protected from demolition. Because the URA believes in striking a balance between sentiment and financial prudence, it does not require everything within a historic enclave to be preserved. Most conserved properties are those which line the main roads while buildings in the inner areas are often not conferred conservation status.

Click on the links below to see the areas which are conserved and those which have been left out.

www.ura.gov.sg/conservation/balestier.htm
www.ura.gov.sg/conservation/gey.htm

More examples may be found at www.ura.gov.sg
Click on “Conservation of built heritage” at the bottom left and further click “Areas and Maps”

Is HARP just living in the past and being unrealistic?
Singapore’s stock of colonial era buildings is finite and dwindling. By this we do not just mean shophouses but rather a whole gamut of buildings ranging from hospitals, factories, schools, warehouses, fire stations and even humble residential house (like the traditional Malay house on stilts that can still be found in the Joo Chiat area). These all have great historic and social significance and are just as part of the “Singapore Story” as the Padang or Fullerton Building.

Isn’t it also interesting to observe that newly industrialising states like China are feverishly building faux-Baroque towns or rebuilding exact replicas of former colonial era buildings in Shanghai while owners in Singapore are razing their old properties? Why is Singapore throwing her away treasured heirlooms?

HARP will complement the work of the URA
In 2002, a special study was undertaken by a group of eminent people in Singapore and recommended several actions to be taken to preserve the old world charm of certain areas in Singapore. In this report, numerous buildings were listed as possible candidates for conservation given their special roles in their respective neighbourhoods. However, being listed in this study report does not necessarily guarantee conservation as clearly seen in the sad episode of the former movie archive at 3 Allenby Road.

The report may be viewed at
www.ura.gov.sg/pwbid/documents/owcmerge.pdf (refer to page 15)

The URA may only recommend areas or specific properties be conserved but the final decision will lie with the property’s owner.

It is now time for conservation work to move up a few notches in Singapore to commensurate with our status as a First World Nation. Property owners should realise that as proprietors of notable heritage properties, they too have an added social responsibility of keeping them for further generations. Conservation should not be viewed as a hindrance but as a way to build and design creatively as seen in many URA conservation award winners. Let owners of non-gazetted “heritage properties” come forward and offer their properties for conservation and fulfil their duty of helping forge a national identity.

Why does HARP think it’s so important to save old buildings?
Old buildings are Singapore’s most visible claim of being a cultural melting pot of East and West since the day it was founded. Building styles in the past may have been predominantly European oriented but these have been designed and executed by Singaporeans and hence represent the sweat, genius and industry of our forefathers. We need to ask ourselves if we would ever refuse an inheritance.

Not only does the razing of buildings and the subsequent environmental damages involve a terrible waste of resources, more importantly, it contributes to a sense of impermanence and unrootedness in Singapore.

Singularly old buildings may not have much value but their social value is priceless. Old buildings are store houses of social memory and integral blocks of national identity. Dare anyone say that our national identity can be less valuable than $800 psf?

What tangible benefits are there when we support HARP’s ideals?
Old buildings and other heritage properties of architectural and historical merit collectively form the genius loci (spirit) of an area and it requires a collective effort to maintain the old world charm of a district. What claim does Katong have as the place where Peranankans built their Edwardian Baroque villas if Mountbatten Road was lined with modern steel and glass houses? Would you find pleasure in visiting Joo Chiat when it looked like any modern housing estate?

Using Serangoon Gadrens as an more tangible example, wouldn’t it be great if certain streets of single storey terraced or semi-detached houses could remain as they are without having their twin demolished and replaced with a modern 3 storey structure which dwarfs the entire neighbourhood and sticks out like a sore thumb? What old world charm is left to speak of ?

What can I do to help?

1. HARP encourages you to contact us by sending us an email to express your desire to be a Rescuer
Every Rescuer is a valued member of HARP and you will be our eyes, mouth and ears. If you see any noteworthy building which you think may be in danger of demolition but deserves some notice, write to your local MP, the National Monuments Board, and the URA or to the newspapers to tell them about what you think this building is special. Do also send your photos to our mailing list so that you may share your findings with fellow Rescuers!

2. Volunteer to put your heritage property on the conservation list
If you own property which was built before 1965 or which has some noteworthy aspects which deserve preservation, why not tell the URA you wish to up the property up for conservation status? If you know someone who has a heritage property outside a gazetted conservation area, you may also try to explain the importance of conservation as listed in this FAQ.

3. Tell local legislators some suggestions that HARP has formulated
The government can extend huge tax concessions for MNCs to set up shop here. It must therefore be possible to offer some tax incentives for individuals and firms who conserve their properties. Such a scheme would not be too different from the existing National Heritage Board scheme of offering donors a tax rebate of twice the amount donated.

We ask that all HARP Rescuers write to their MPs, the National Monuments Board and the URA to tell them that you of your desire to see the above mentioned tax benefits extended to building conservation.

4. Share your admiration and love for old buildings
Every one of us must have a favourite old building which we see every now and then. Why not tell the owner of the house that you admire his property? Everyone likes to be complimented so go tell people you like their homes. It’s exactly like telling your friend that you like his new painting or her new piece of jewellery. HARP believes that if property owners are aware that so many people actually are so fond of his home, he may think twice about pulling it down and replacing it with a cookie cutter modern house.

The HARP list of endangered buildings and structures
(list is not exhaustive)

1. Old KK hospital
2. Field House (25 Gilstead Rd ; home of Leslie Charteris, author of cult TV series “The Saint”)
3. Alexandra hospital
4. Old Yan Kit swimming pool behind Tanjong Pagar Market
5. Old single gate post along Stevens Rd (at the start of White House Rd)
6. Horseshoe shaped seaside villa of the Cashin family at 23 Amber Rd
7. Singapore Aerated Water Co factory along Serangoon Rd
8. Old central police station (beside Peoples Park)
9. The White House (beside former Traffic Police HQ at Maxwell Road)
10. Former NAFA campus on Mount Sophia
11. Georgian style house at Eng Hoon St (Tiong Bahru)
12. Old fire station at the Upper Bukit Timah Rd (near the former Ford Factory)
13. Ellison Building at the junction of Selegie and Mackenzie Rd (the only shophouse with twin domes; used by the governor to watch the races at the old race track at Race Course Rd.)
14. Atbara (Former French embassy at Gallop Rd)

But I don’t even know my cornices from my Corinthian columns. What help can I be?
Not all our members are architects. HARP’s founding members include homemakers and students who have no knowledge of architectural terms but share the same passion of admiring works of art done in concrete, plaster and brick and the fiery determination to save them from demolition.

By joining HARP, you are sending out a clear, loud and firm message that buildings of architectural merit should and MUST not be wantonly razed.

Suggested list of references

Websites
www.lookingatbuildings.org.uk
www.greatbuildings.com
www.ura.gov.sg (click on “conservation of built heritage” )

Books
In Granite and Chunam by Gretchen Liu (Landmark Books)
Black and White by Julian Davison (Talisman Publishing)
The Singapore house and residential life 1819-1939 by Norman Edwards (Oxford University Press)
The Singapore House 1819-1942 by Lee Kip Lin (Times Publishing)

DVD
“Site and sound” by Julian Davison (originally telecast on Arts Central but now sold in Borders)
Official website with trailers and write ups: www.siteandsound.tv

One final reason you should join HARP
We already are unable to show our children and grandchildren the red brick stairs old national library which stood as silent witness to countless first dates. How many of us have gone back to the house we were born only to find that it has been redeveloped into a row of non-descript modern terrace houses? Wouldn’t it be nice for post 1960ers to be able to show their children how the Singapore of their youth was, without having to go to specific conservation areas only? Don’t you think that is a going to feel very contrived?

HARP’s role in conservation in Singapore was featured in the TODAY newspaper on 11 Nov 2006

What are you waiting for? Be a HARP Rescuer today!
Everyone can play a part in widening the net of conservation in Singapore. It has been done well till now but let’s help make it better!
To sign up, send an email to harp_rescue@yahoo.com