S$2.1 million for national monuments’ restoration and maintenance works

SINGAPORE – Twelve national monuments including the Church of St Teresa and Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple will receive about a total of S$2.1 million this year from the National Heritage Board (NHB) for restoration and maintenance works.

The bulk of the money – about S$2 million – from the National Monuments Fund will help co-fund restoration works at six monuments, while about S$113,000 will help co-fund maintenance works at 12 monuments.

Announcing this year’s recipients on Thursday (July 26), the NHB said the maintenance component of the National Monuments Fund was expanded to cover more maintenance works. It now includes the maintenance of vegetation on, or near, the national monuments.

Last year, the scope of the maintenance component was increased to include arborist reports to support the removal of vegetation, actual removal works, as well as maintenance works to protect against lightning. The component was introduced in 2015 so that monument owners could conduct regular maintenance to prevent restoration costs from snowballing.

Ms Jean Wee, director of NHB’s Preservation of Sites and Monuments division, said it expanded the scope of work covered by the National Monuments Fund after feedback, to ensure it is “user-friendly”.

“We see some evidence of this as a number of monument owners are returning for fresh applications. I see the outcomes of the fund as a win-win situation: The community gets to worship at a restored or refreshed monument, and my team and I get a better understanding of the built material and the solutions that are tested, to ensure they will be well preserved for future generations,” she said.

The Church of St Teresa, located on Kampong Bahru Road, is receiving maintenance funding for the third year in a row. It is also embarking on in-depth restoration work and will strengthen its building structure and restore its roof, ceiling, timber windows, doors, stained glass and terrazzo floor. The church, which officially opened in 1929, will also treat its walls and restore its steel-reinforced concrete granolithic exterior.

The 164-year-old Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple on Serangoon Road is also receiving both maintenance and restoration funding. It has completed its restoration process and was re-sanctified in a consecration ceremony in April. The temple had its sculptures restored, its inner sanctums re-tiled and the chipped granite flooring at its main temple replaced.

Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple is one of 12 national monuments to receive funding for restoration and maintenance works. PHOTO: Najeer Yusof

The four other recipients of restoration funding this year are the Al-Abrar Mosque, Chesed-El Synagogue, Maghain Aboth Synagogue and Thian Hock Keng temple.

There are currently 31 non-profit or religious national monuments that qualify for the National Monuments Fund.

Last year, S$2.2 million from the fund was disbursed to 17 monuments. In 2016, S$2.3 million was disbursed to 23 monuments.