| Old Parliament House, Singapore |
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Information AboutOld Parliament House, Singapore |
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HISTORY The Old Parliament House was completed in 1827 as a Neo-Palladian building owned by a Scottish merchant, John Argyle Maxwell , who was based in Java as his private residence. However, there have been Archaelogical findings from the 13th Century and 14th Century of Stoneware and Earthenware during the refurbishment of the building in 1989 . In 1823 , the Modern Founder of Singapore, Stamford Raffles asked the Temmengong or local chief to move to Telok Blangah for the piece of land for government use. An administrative slip turned out the site being assigned to Maxwell and architect G. D. Coleman designed the building. Before Maxwell could moved in, the Colonial Government took over the building for government uses. The British government leased the building from Maxwell for 500 Rupee s every month. By June 1827 , the Land Office issued Maxwell a 999 year lease of the site. A Court House and government offices moved into the building. In 1839 , the court house moved into a new building which is now the Former Attorney General's Chambers building which in turn is incorporated into the Parliament House . The building was then converted into government offices. Two years later in 1841 , Maxwell's residence went up for Auction , with the government putting in a bid of $15,600 which it won. The government offices stay put until 1875 when the Supreme Court Of The Colony moved in. The building went through major extentions numerous times. The first between 1873 and 1875 and again in 1901 which it was extended towards the River . During this period, Coleman's original design was lost due to the extentions. The building was transformed from Coleman's Neo-Palladian design to Victorian Architecture . Two Courtroom s were reconstructed and a residence for the Attorney General was built. When the Supreme Court moved into its New Building further down the road, the building was used as a Storehouse and later for the Department of Social Welfare after the Second World War . The building was refurbished again in 1953 to make way for the new Legislative Assembly Of Singapore . The upgrading works were completed in 1954 and was designed by T.H.H. Hancock who was the Senior Architect of the Public Works Department . The then Governor John Nicoll . The original design is hard to determine except the arches at the Porch of the building. When the then Chief Minister David Marshall was elected in 1955 , he was given an office in the building. The building was renamed Parliament House in August 1965 when the nation gained independence. The building was gazetted a National Monument on 14 February 1992 . On 6 September 1999 , the Parliament of Singapore moved into a newly built building next door which faces North Bridge Road . A Bronze Elephant is located at the front of the Old Parliament House which was a gift from King Chulalongkorn or King Rama V of Siam (now known as Thailand ) as a token of appreciation after his stay in 15 March 1871 . The country is the first foreign nation visited by a Siamese King . It stood at the Victoria Theatre And Concert Hall then but was moved in 1919 for a statue for Stamford Raffles . THE ARTS HOUSE AT OLD PARLIAMENT SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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