S'pore's first integrated town hub to enable old and young to interact, bond under one roof
By Janice Tai, The Sunday Times, 12 May 2013
By Janice Tai, The Sunday Times, 12 May 2013
Work started yesterday on Singapore's first integrated town hub - which will house facilities including a library, sports centre and hawker centre under one roof when it opens in 2016.
The idea is to encourage more community spaces in which different generations can interact and bond while engaging in a variety of activities.
A family with elderly parents and young children, for example, will be able to spend a weekend together swimming, taking dance or cooking classes and dining.
More than 2,500 Tampines residents picked up spades to take part in the ground-breaking ceremony at Tampines Stadium yesterday morning.
It marked the start of construction work on the Tampines Town Hub, which will occupy 5.6ha of state land - or about seven football fields, on the site of the existing Tampines Stadium and Sports Hall.
Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, who is also a Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC, said about 15,000 residents gave ideas and feedback in the past year.
"The Hub's design incorporates many ideas from our residents," he said. "Residents can enjoy a wide range of sporting, cultural and learning activities as a family, connect with their friends and neighbours and run their errands."
The ideas were collected through face-to-face interviews, phone surveys and focus group discussions.Some of the suggestions that will be taken on board include having less retail space, more family-friendly facilities and a hawker centre instead of just high-end restaurants.
Amenities within the hub will include Tampines Regional Library, clinics, childcare centres, culinary and music studios, a community club and government agencies such as the National Heritage Board office and the North East Community Development Council.
When completed, it will also incorporate the country's first regional sports centre, complete with swimming pools, tennis courts, gymnasium, town square and jogging track.
Residents can cycle to the Hub via cycling tracks linked to those in the neighbourhood, or take a train there. The Tampines MRT station is just minutes away.
Police officer Terence Tan, 44, said the cycle tracks will ease the traffic congestion in the area.
"I will no longer have to go to different places for my children's enrichment classes and my badminton sessions," he said.
IT consultant Teh Teik Lee, 40, said: "The nation is getting more crowded and such hubs make things so much more convenient."