SINGAPORE – The 148-year-old main building of Orchard Road Presbyterian Church, which houses the church’s sanctuary, has been put up for conservation.
Completed in 1878, it is the oldest building on the church’s site at 3 Orchard Road, which also houses a chapel that dates back to 1953, as well as the Dunman Building, which was built in 1985 and has offices, meeting rooms and classrooms.
The proposal to conserve the main building was published by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Jan 9, and comes amid an ongoing project to refresh the church’s compound.
In a note accompanying the proposal, URA said that the proposed conservation of the main building recognises the site’s longstanding history and architectural significance.
If the building is conserved, it cannot be demolished in the future, and future works to it will have to follow guidelines that safeguard its architecturally significant features.
Orchard Road Presbyterian Church was founded in 1856 to cater to the Scottish community in Singapore.
Its first worship service was held at the London Missionary Society’s chapel, located at the junction of North Bridge Road and Bras Basah Road.
According to the website of the church – which today sits on a freehold site of about 6,000 sq m in size – it was granted its present site in May 1865.
Worship services were moved to the main building after it was completed in November 1878 – a time when the church was known simply as the “Presbyterian Church”.
