Designed in Neo-Classical style, the Capitol Theatre was built in 1929 by British architectural firm Keys and Dowdeswell, who also designed the Fullerton Building and Singapore General Hospital.
During WWII, it was occupied by the Japanese, who renamed it as Kyo-Ei Gekijo and replaced English films with Japanese ones.
For decades, the theatre was the premier picture house in Singapore, screening countless blockbusters and variety shows.
Capitol Building was built in 1933, four years after Capitol Theatre was completed, expanding on the foundation of the theatre. The building, with its huge billboard and curved corner facade, was the iconic structure at the junction of Stamford Road and North Bridge Road.
Capitol was known as Shaw Building before 1989, as Shaw Organisation bought over the building in 1946. Their showbiz lasted a long 40 years, and finally ended in 1987 when Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) took over the building in 1987. The last movie screened, though, was in 1998.
Both Capitol Theatre and Capitol Building were given conservation status in July 2007.
Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has tried to convert the colonial buildings into an arts and design center in 2000 but without success. It was not until 2010 that a S$250-million bid was accepted to redevelop the area in a 99-year lease.
Expected to be completed in 2014, the developers will revive the glories of Capitol Theatre, Capitol Building and Stamford House, and turn the place into a mixture of hotel, entertainment, retail, dining and residential purposes. The cost is estimated to be around S$750 million.
Published: 20 June 2011
The side doors to the interior are opened while reno is going on.
Ask for permission, and add onto your shots
Thanks for the alert! will attempt to go again
question:
Did the Capital have a milk bar about 1960, as I remember it being somewhere in Singapore, which was very popular with westerners.
Yes it was one of the many Magnolia bar owned by Cold Storage. Other locations that I can recall was the location opposite Cold Storage at Orchard Rd, at the Arcade
nice
Thanks for that about the Capitol milk bar, it sounds about right. if you click on the link below you should be able to see photos of Singapore in the 1960s that I took.
I’m trying to get info on what was behind the National showroom building, next door to Capitol theater. This site was next to the Capitol car park & behind the National showroom. I think it was some club for the ANZAC forces? Have you any memories on this?
The Union Jack Club (opened 1924) – later renamed the Commonwealth Services Club – demolished in 1975.
Sorry I was not involved in the war, so dont have any particular memories of that site. I stayed at the south Seas hotel in Singapore in 1960, which I see now is still standing but as the Rochor 81 hotel on the Rochor Canal and Bencoolen St.
I’ve never heard of the South Seas hote. lThere used to be a hotel named the White House hotel at the junction of Rochor Canal & Benoolen St. It occupied the corner of that stretch. The gov’t appropriated parts of the hotel when they widened Rochore Rd. This might have been part of the hotel you stayed in
The White House Hotel may have been on the opposite corner to the South Seas hotel, but I do not recall it. Do you know if the Merlion ststue is still standing next to the bridge over the Singapore river, it was quite a prominent feature?
Which one are you referring to
There is “officially” a few Merlions.
They moved the original to a new site after they completed the Marina Bay reclamation. The new location is front of Hotel Fullerton. You may remember that the Fullerton building was the general post office but it is now a hotel
Can read about why the Merlion was moved here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlion
Before Shaw Building, I remember it was named as Namazie Mansion
The The Capitol was built and developed by the late M.A.Namazie, a Persian pioneer who came and settled in Singapore in 1900s. He was an early Singaporean property developer . Building started in 1929 and he completed the accompanying four-storey building in 1933. It was known as “Namazie Mansions”, back then (not the “Shaw Building”!! ). It sits on the site of the 19th century Dutch Hotel, Van Wyke. Designed by the Shanghai-based Keys and Dowdeswell (same architect who built Fullerton), the building is a landmark in the Civic and Cultural district.
Capitol Theatre, a.k.a. Capitol Cinema and its attendant four-storey building, located at the junction of Stamford Road and North Bridge Road, is of neo-classical architecture.
The Capitol was where the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and other greats of the silent movie era, visited Singapore to promote their movies. The Capitol, then run by the Namazies, used to screen silent movies, as one of Singapore’s first cinemas. Certainly its grandest ! The Theatre had a retractable dome shaped ceiling, and on nights when the weather was cool, the ceiling opened and movies were screened under the stars in the 1000 plus theatre.
The Shaw Organisation acquired the cinema after the war
Namazie – the site of the Namazie Mansions/Capitol Bulding is where the Sailors Home used to be – corner of North Bridge and Stamford roads – opposite St Andrews Cathedral grounds. The Whiteaway Laidlaw building; further up Stamford road with the junction of Hill Street and Victoria Road became Stamford House. Hotel Van Wyke was on the other side of the road.
Thanx for your comments, I enjoyed my time in Singapore
Ray Morris
My memory is of the huge hand painted posters. It was where I watched the Beatles film A Hard Day’s Night
Namazie Mansions was built at the junction of North Bridge and Stamford Roads. The site had previously been occupied by the Sailor’s Home. The Hotel Van Wyke was opposite the Mansions on Stamford Road set behind the Stamford Canal.
Thanks for the history, my memories are mainly of the 1950s and the Capitol building is one of them, does the building still stand ? also are there any recent photos of Bencoolen St. and Bras basah Rd.
regards
Ray Morris
Ray, the Capitol site is currently being re-developed. There are many photos online of Singapore’s streets and architecture – just search using google images.