Mechanised car park at Club Street to be torn down next year

SINGAPORE — A temporary mechanised car park at Club Street will be torn down in February next year following the completion of the first stage of the Downtown Line, in a move that will more than halve the number of car park lots there, leaving retailers in the area wondering if business will be affected.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Monday called a tender for the demolition of M-Park@Club Street, which was built after an existing 162-lot open-air car park was closed temporarily due to the construction of the Downtown Line’s Chinatown station. The first stage of the Downtown Line will officially open on Dec 22 with six operational stations: Chinatown, Telok Ayer, Downtown, Bayfront, Promenade and Bugis.

Opened in 2008, M-Park@Club Street has 140 lots and cost S$6 million to build. In April last year, the old open-air car park was reopened, but with only 87 lots.

LTA said the land occupied by the mechanised car park will be returned to the State. Responding to queries, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said it was intended for residential use according to its 2008 Master Plan and that it “will be programmed for future development based on planning priority and market demand”.

Motorists TODAY spoke to were surprised when told about the demolition. Some remarked that the move seemed to be a “regression” that did not correspond with the recent push towards mechanised parking.

Said a season-pass holder, Mr Neo, 46: “With the HDB (Housing and Development Board) recently announcing that they will be building more mechanised car parks, I don’t understand why the authorities are demolishing this one.”

The HDB had announced in October that a pilot mechanised parking project would be carried out at Bukit Panjang, Yishun and Changi to address a shortage of parking lots.

Project manager Jennifer Tey, 36, who also holds a monthly season pass, said more jostling may be in store for the already-limited number of lots in the vicinity. She also pointed out that M-Park@Club Street offered the cheapest monthly parking rates at S$180, compared to other car parks in the area such as China Square Central, which charges S$288.90 each month.

Another frequent user of the car park, banker Ralf Schimdt, 44, felt it should remain open as it had more lots than the open-air car park. He said: “It’s a clever solution for land-limited Singapore. Given that there are already so few car parks in the area, they should be increasing its capacity instead of demolishing it.”

Business owners in the area had mixed reactions. Ms Angela Xu said her traditional Chinese therapy business would be “majorly impacted” as about 90 per cent of her customers use the car park. However, restaurant manager Li Wen felt that business would not be affected in the long term after customers get used to using other forms of transportation, such as the Downtown Line.

“Having fewer cars travelling along the already narrow streets here will definitely make the area more conducive,” said Ms Li.

Currently, Ann Siang Road, Club Street and Haji Lane are car-free on weekends. In its recently unveiled draft Master Plan 2013, the URA proposed to make more areas in the city, such as Empress Place and Parliament Lane, permanently car-free by 2015.