Peace Centre was born in the early seventies, a period where many skyscrapers popped up in the city and downtown areas of Singapore. Towering commercial complexes costing tens of millions of dollars were built at blistering pace; some examples were the 50-storey Development Bank of Singapore (DBS) building, United Industrial Corporation (UIC) building (40 storeys), Robina House (26 storeys), Shenton House (25 storeys), Hong Leong Building (45 storeys) and Straits Trading Building (28 storeys).

The site of Peace Centre at the junction of Sophia and Selegie Roads was acquired in 1970 with a 99-year tenure. Its concept, dubbed as a utilitarian concept in building construction and a multi-million dollar towering skyscraper, was released a year later. The $30-million project by Kian An Realty, jointly financed by Singapore and Hong Kong businessmen, would consist of two parts – Peace Centre and Peace Mansion.

Peace Centre was designed to have a seven-storey front podium and a ten-storey rear podium with a multi-storey carpark, whereas Peace Mansion would be a 22-storey residential tower made up of 84 apartments and two penthouses. The project was built by local construction company Low Keng Huat Construction (LKHC), who was also the builder of the iconic People’s Park Complex, UOB Building, OCBC Centre, Mandarin Hotel and Plaza Singapura.

In 1973, Peace Centre’s front podium was completed. It had shops, supermarket, medical specialist centre, eateries, offices and even a 36-lane bowling centre called Star Bowl. Peace Mansion was completed in 1977.

Shortly after its completion, Peace Centre’s new neighbour Parklane Shopping Mall, a 10-storey building catered for one-stop shopping, was also opened for business, adding vibrancy to this stretch of Selegie Road.

A sheltered pedestrian bridge, built by the Urban Renewal Authorities, was linked from Peace Centre to Selegie Complex (present-day Wilkie Edge Shopping Mall) on the other side of Sophia Road. Over the years, the bridge became a recognisable landmark for drivers entering Sophia Road.

The $5-million Star Bowl bowling centre at Peace Centre was the largest in Singapore when it was opened in September 1973. On its opening day, the management donated the entire earnings of $1,514 to the Singapore Anti-Narcotics Association and Spastics Children Association of Singapore.

In July 1974, Star Bowl hosted the 7th Cathay Pacific-Brunswick Far East bowling tournament involving top bowlers from Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Australia. The popular bowling centre, however, lasted only eight years. It shut down in February 1981, when the owners sold it to an office developer.

One of the early tenants at Peace Centre was the Singapore Cancer Society, which set up clinics and a Cancer Information Centre in the new building in 1974. Officially opened by then-Singapore President Benjamin Henry Sheares (1907-1981), the Cancer Information Centre consisted of a Books and Films Library that provided materials for the society’s campaigns to educate the public on the importance of early detection in cancer and the cures.

Singapore Cancer Society, in 1979, also set up a Smoking Cessation Clinic at Peace Centre to help smokers who wished to kick their habit.

Some of the other associations that were housed at Peace Centre were the Singapore Government Servants’ Co-operative Thrift and Loans Society, Singapore Association for Counselling, Singapore Optometric Association, Girls’ Brigade International and Youth Challenge.

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) had their Welcome supermarket opened at Peace Centre’s ground and first floors in 1974, taking up 1,200m² of space. The seventies saw NTUC expanding their operations; the Peace Centre’s branch was NTUC’s fourth in Singapore, after Toa Payoh, Bukit Ho Swee and Serangoon Gardens.

A NTUC Travel Service was also established at Peace Centre, offering discounted travel package tours to workers under the union.

In January 1975, NTUC added its first ever emporium at Peace Centre’s first floor, selling a wide range of products from children’s wear and toys to watches and electrical appliances. It was a $50,000 pilot project to test the public response to NTUC’s selling of non-supermarket items. However, the emporium lasted only nine months. Poor revenue forced the management to shut it down in September 1975.

Peace Centre’s NTUC Welcome supermarket ceased in the early eighties after years of relatively poor sale turnover compared to other NTUC branches. It was then restructured into NTUC FairPrice supermarket, where it continued until 2002. Its retail space at Peace Centre was then outbid and took over by Cold Storage.

Peace Centre had a large variety of shops, ranging from bookstores, money changers and tuition centres to hair salons, pubs and coffee houses.

Regular patrons would remember the likes of City Music Company (music store in the eighties), Kam Kee Yong’s School of Music (music school), Intellect Education Centre (tuition centre, third floor), Waterford School (tuition centre), Systematic Business Training Centre (course provider), Iwa Oneprice Store (department store), Christian Book Centre (religious books), Prince Book Centre (secondhand books, ground floor), Emms Boutique (female apparel and office wear, second floor), Bigston Electronics (car stereo products), Ren Sports (sports equipment), Chong Seng Tailor (first floor), Supreme Chemist (pharmacy), Shafinah Video Vision (videotapes), Art Friends (art and craft materials) and Otrona, the first Singapore-owned company to make personal computers in the eighties.

For Peace Centre’s restaurants and eateries, the more well-known ones were the uniquely-named Sorry Snack House in late seventies, Paseo Cafe Bar (second floor, eighties), Don Sancho Members Club (nightclub beside Paseo), Coffehouse Restaurant (second floor) and Peace Restaurant, which was opened at the seventh floor of Peace Centre in 1977.

A Singapore Turf Club branch also operated at Peace Centre’s ground floor, a favourite lottery and horseracing betting outlet among the punters.

By the 2000s, the aging Peace Centre was gradually falling out of favour due to the emergence of many new shopping malls elsewhere in Singapore. The mall’s interior was outdated and there were frequent aircon breakdowns, and power and water supply disruptions. At Peace Mansion, it was getting a poor reputation with its all sleazy KTVs and nightclubs. It was not uncommon to see fights and brawls broke out outside Peace Centre and Peace Mansion.

In 2007, Peace Centre and Peace Mansion were put up for a collective sale of $470 million but without success. The properties were put up for sale again in 2011, this time for $700 million. A third attempt for $680 million was in 2014.

Peace Centre and Peace Mansion were eventually sold, on the fifth try, in 2021 for $650 million to property firms Chip Eng Seng and SingHaiyi.

The demolition date for Peace Centre and Peace Mansion was scheduled to be in mid-2023, but the new owners agreed to extend it by another six months for the building to used by PlayPan and their social movement which included art jamming, painting of wall graffiti and murals, and other creative experimental projects. Some also set up small temporary thrift shops to try out their entrepreneurial aspirations.

In the last weekend of January 2024, a PeaceOut festival was organised, where more than 1,500 partygoers attended. Peace Centre and Peace Mansion were officially closed after that.

Published: 27 February 2024