Club’s centenary splash

The Chinese Swimming Club turns 100 with a $43m makeover – to mixed reactions
By tay suan chiang

Goodbye, pagoda roof. Hello, glass and marble. The Chinese Swimming Club is celebrating turning 100 this year with a new $43-million pavilion and sports complex on the site of its now torn-down, Ming dynasty-style building.

But not everyone is glad it took the plunge.

Architect Mink Tan of Mink Architects says the club’s former sports complex was an iconic building on the east coast.

‘It evoked feelings of old Singapore,’ he says.

Veteran architect Tay Kheng Soon did not mince his words when talking about the two sports complexes.

He says the old clubhouse, a threestorey building, ‘was humble, modest and not so showy’.

‘Now the glass building is even more a show-off,’ he says. ‘They have replaced one ugly building with another,’ he adds, of the two complexes.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority says it has a set of criteria that it uses to assess buildings and structures being considered for conservation. These include a building’s historical and architectural merit, rarity in terms of building types, styles and their contribution to the overall environment.

Generally, buildings need to be at least 30 years old before they qualify for consideration.

‘The two buildings – the old sports complex and the recreation complex – are under 30 years old,’ says its spokesman.

The old sports complex was inspired by a Ming dynasty theme and had blue-tiled roofs and arches, and a tiled wall with nine dragons on it. The tiles were imported from China and each piece was erected individually by a craftsman.

The sports complex was opened in 1979 and torn down in 2002. It had housed a small gymnasium, and tennis, squash and badminton courts.

However, the club’s president, Mr Edwin Lee, 54, says: ‘The tiles were already falling off and the building looked dated.’

In its place is a $16-million, four-storey building that is the club’s new arrival pavilion. It will be officially opened next month.

Just behind it is a $27-million glass and steel sports complex, which houses a 12-lane bowling alley, a gym and eight badminton courts, a billiard room, a bar and a cafe. There are also four swimming pools here. It was completed in 2005.

The two new buildings mark the completion of a $43-million redevelopment project.

Mr Lee tells Life!: ‘We want to project a progressive club with a full range of sports facilities rather than have a club that looked like a clan association or a museum’.

SH Lim Architects won a competition to design the club’s new look. A panel of architects judged the competition.

While the two buildings are modern, there are a few details that still reflect the club’s heritage. For example, the lift landings in the sports complex are cantilevered and resemble diving boards. Part of the facade of the arrival pavilion is clad in coloured marble that has a wavy pattern

* End of Katong landmark

‘which look like Chinese ink brushstrokes’, says Mr Lee, who has been president for nine years.

In the lobby, lattices on the ceiling and bamboo curtains give the area an Oriental touch. The building also houses Tung Lok Classics, a Chinese restaurant, and a spa that is under construction. The restaurant and spa will be open to the public.

Club members, if not some architects, love the new look.

Housewife Christina Leong, 38, a member since she was nine, says she does not miss the old sports complex at all.

‘It was an eyesore and it doesn’t fit with the present time.’

She still goes to the club once a month to its gym and cafe.

Another member is Madam Lily Lim, 61, a general manager of a hardware company. She used to go to the club as a child every Sunday with her family. Her father then was a life member and Madam Lim became a member five years ago.

She says: ‘As a child, the old building was big and exciting,’ she says. ‘But I prefer this new one too as it is grand, posh and sophisticated.’

Ms May Gwee, 38, a freelance public relations consultant, says that ‘the new buildings move with the times’. She adds that the Olympic-sized pool and the kids’ pool are better than before.

Mr Lee hopes that with the new look, the club will be able to attract younger members.

It currently has about 8,500 members. The club membership fee is $10,000 with a monthly $40 subscription fee. The club does not sell memberships. Prospective members can join only when current ones want to give up their membership.

The Chinese Swimming Club began in 1909 and there was an old clubhouse before the blue-tiled roof sports complex was completed in 1979.

It still has another Ming-dynastyinspired building – the recreation complex, located across the road from the arrival pavilion. The future of this building is still uncertain.

The club will put up a proposal at its annual general meeting in April next year.

What is more certain is that the interiors of the two-storey building will be fitted with more activity rooms.

Over the years, it has churned out swimming champions such as Pat Chan, Ang Peng Siong and Mark Chan.

Today, its swimming stars include Lionel Khoo, Koh Hui Yu and Cheryl Lim. Chan, the golden girl of swimming from 1965 to 1973, who used to train at the pool, is more familiar with the old clubhouse than with the former sports complex.

She says that ‘it is a shame to get rid of history but the club has to move on’.

Dr Kevin Tan, president of the Singapore Heritage Society, says that although the Ming-dynasty-inspired sports complex was a ‘landmark for its time, I don’t feel too badly about the loss of it’.

He explains that although the building was distinctive, it had little historical significance.

‘It would be good if a new building could be built around the old sports complex – losing a landmark in Katong is always sad,’ he says.

Club president Mr Lee says that all that matters is that ‘members like it. We cannot please everyone’.

SOURCE: Straits Times