Old Airport Road

Scene on opening day of Kallang Airport 12 June 1937
(Photo from Singapore History Museum)

Update 27/02/2006: The hawker centre will close some time next week. Drop by soon to catch a bit of nostalgia! Beer is strictly on me though you'll have to pay for that char kway teow...

I can't find information about the impending closure of Old Airport Road. I'm going to miss the dingy hawker centre though.

Managed to unearth some interesting stuff about Singapore's first civil airport. More info at these sites:

Singapore's first airport

Flight into fantasy

Apparently Kallang Airport was opened in 1937 by Sir Shenton Thomas, the person whom Shenton Way is named after. The airport, located next to the Kallang River, could take ground- as well as sea-landing aircrafts and was billed as the "finest airport in the British Empire"

Interesting that Sir Cecil Clementi made this note when the idea of an airport in Singapore was mooted, "Looking into the future, I expect to see Singapore become one of the largest, most important airports of the world .... It is therefore essential that we should have here, close to the heart of the town, an aerodrome which is equally suitable for land planes and sea planes ...."

The original runway was laid along what is now Stadium Boulevard, the road that separates National Stadium from Kallang Theatre. It ended just short of the Mountbatten Road junction and when it was extended across that junction, making up what is now Old Airport Road. Back then they had to build traffic lights to stop traffic when a plane needed to land.

There's a Circle Line station to be built underneath Old Airport Road, which is why they're going to close the road. Funny thing is, the name of the station was changed from Old Airport Station to Dakota Station, presumably after Dakota Crescent, a road in that area. However not many people may know that Dakota was also the model of the plane that crashed at Kallang Airport. Now, I'm sure many old-timers in the estate wouldn't take too kindly to having a station name associated with some tragedy. In any case, Old Airport Station sounds much nicer. Another impending boo-boo by LTA? *slap forehead*

Whatever it may be, another piece of Singapore's history is about to close. So drop by the Old Airport area and enjoy the sights, sounds and food while you may...