The expansion and modernisation plan of the police in the colonial era included the construction of Beach Road Police Station in the year 1934 . The Beach Road was built on reclaimed land, A number of new police stations, like the Central , Pearl’s Hill Barracks and Hill Street , were constructed in the city and other downtown areas, and police station was built along the Beach road, constructed on reclaimed land. The guard room,offices, garage and stores were located on the first floor of the structure which had three storeys. The Asian and European inspectors were provided accommodation at the upper floors of the building.
Beach Road Police Station
During the period 1942-1945, when Japan occupied Singapore, Japanese who took over the police station used it for holding their Indian, Chinese and Jewish prisoners, till these prisoners were transferred to the prison at Changi. After the war ended, the British regained control of the Police Station at Beach Road and it resumed functioning in a manner similar to that in the pre-war period. The police officers along with their families used the building as a residential quarters for their staff in the 1950’s.
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History of Beach Road Police Station
During the years prior to Singapore’s independence which was a turbulent and chaotic period, the police outpost had an important function as many secret societies were active, and there were many riots and strikes. The riots related to the Maria Hertogh case in December 1950 was quelled by the police constables. The staff quarters in the building were replaced by offices in the nineteen seventies. ThePolice Divisions of Central Police and Geylang utilized the building for their headquarters in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The operations of the police outpost at Beach road ended in 2001 after approximately 70 years. It was replaced by the new police stations constructed at the Bedok and Ang Mo Kio towns for serving citizens in the area efficiently and in a better manner.
Police Station Building Conserved
The police station building was accorded conservation status in the year 2002. In 2003, the National Heritage Board (abbreviated as NHB) of Singapore declared that it was a historic site in the country. Since then, the Raffles Institute for design and other tenants leased the building till the year 2013. The Board for Urban Redevelopment announced a commercial sale of the site of the police outpost at Beach Road in the year 2017. The minimum bid for the sale was fixed at $1.138 billion. One of the preconditions for bidding is that that the developer who wins the bid should ensure that the heritage building is restored, and conserved according to the NHB criteria.