Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall

Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall
Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall
Former names	Town Hall and Victoria Memorial Hall
General information
Type	Theatre, concert hall
Architectural style	Neoclassical
Location	Singapore
Coordinates	1°17′17.7″N 103°51′5.9″E / 1.288250°N 103.851639°E / 1.288250; 103.851639
Construction started	1855
Completed	1909
Design and construction
Architect	John Bennett Alexander Murray Regent A. J. Bidwell
Designations	National monument

The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall (Malay: Teater dan Dewan Konsert Victoria; Chinese: 维多利亚剧院及音乐会堂) is a performing arts center in the Central Area of Singapore. It is a complex of two buildings and a clock tower joined together by a common corridor; the oldest part of the building was first built in 1862, and the complex was completed in 1909. The complex has undergone a number of renovations and refurbishment, mostly recently in 2010 when the complex was closed for a four-year renovation project. It reopened on 15 July 2014.

The buildings in the complex have been used for a number of purposes, such as public events, political meetings, exhibitions, musical and stage performances, and for a brief period as a hospital. The concert hall is used as a performance venue by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO), and the complex is managed by The Esplanade Co Ltd. The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall was gazetted as a national monument on 14 February 1992.

The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall first began as the Town Hall in 1862. In the early 1900s a second public hall was built next to it joined by a clock tower to form a larger complex.

The Town Hall was originally built to replace the older Assembly Rooms, where local operas and dramas were held but had fallen into disrepair. The foundation stone was laid in 1855, and the building completed in 1862.

The building was designed by the Municipal Engineer, John Bennett. It was built during an era of Victorian Revivalism that was then popular in Britain, and its design therefore reflected this architectural style with Italianate windows, and it was the first such building in Singapore built in this style. The completed town hall originally housed a theatre on the ground floor as well as meeting rooms and offices of various government agencies on the second floor. It also housed the Singapore Library from 1862 to 1876. However, the town hall was unable to cope with increasing demand for the use of both, and by 1893, the offices had moved out of the building.

In 1901, it was decided that a public hall would be built in memory of Queen Victoria who died that year. Public funds for its construction amounting to $368,000 were collected, exceeding the construction costs, thus leaving a surplus of $22,000 for the renovation of the town hall so that it blended in with the new hall. The foundation stone was laid on the occasion of King Edward VII's coronation celebration on 10 August 1902, and the new building was built between 1903 and 1905 next to the Town Hall.