Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall

The Town Hall was built in 1862 and the Victoria Memorial Hall added beside it in 1905, with a clock tower linking the two, and the pair have been Singapore's principal performance venue ever since. A restoration completed in 2014 took four years and rebuilt the concert hall acoustically while keeping the exterior and the interior detail. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is resident and the Raffles statue stands in front.

Background

Work on the Town Hall started with a foundation stone in 1855, and the building was completed in 1862; between 1862 and 1876 it was also home to the Singapore Library. The Victoria Memorial Hall was built to honour Queen Victoria after her death in 1901. Public funds raised for it came to $368,000. The new hall's stone was laid on 10 August 1902 and it opened on 18 October 1905. A 54 metre-high clock tower of 1906 joins the two halls through a shared corridor. Its clock, given by the Straits Trading Company, measures four metres across, has a weight of 1 tonne and cost $6,000. The complex became a national monument on 14 February 1992.

Source: Wikipedia, "Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall"

The main sights

• The clock tower - the 1906 tower linking the theatre and the concert hall.
• The concert hall - rebuilt acoustically in the 2010s restoration.
• The Raffles statue - the figure standing in front of the building.
• The Victorian facades - the 1862 town hall and 1905 memorial hall together.

When to go

Year round; the foyer is open during the day and performances run through the season. Concert schedules are worth checking ahead. The Civic District is busiest at weekends.

Good to know

The halls are only seen with a ticket or on an occasional tour. There is little to do beyond look at the exterior otherwise. Ticket prices for the symphony are high.

Nearby

The Fullerton is south, and the Padang is east.

Key facts