place

Van Kleef Aquarium

1955 establishments in Singapore1996 disestablishments in SingaporeBuildings and structures demolished in 1998Demolished buildings and structures in SingaporeFormer zoos
OceanariaSingaporean building and structure stubsZoo stubsZoos disestablished in 1996Zoos established in 1955

Van Kleef Aquarium was an oceanarium located along River Valley Road, at the foot of Fort Canning Hill, in Singapore. Fully air-conditioned, the aquarium had 6,500 animals at the time of opening, which were housed in freshwater, seawater, and swamp tanks respectively. The decision to develop the aquarium was made in 1935 by the Municipal Commission, as a way to use the money bequested to the Municipal Commission by Karel William Benjamin Van Kleef in 1930 for the "embellishment of the city". While the site and name of the aquarium were chosen by 1936, and plans for it drawn up in 1937, the aquarium was only approved in 1939 due to cost concerns. Construction subsequently began in 1940, but work was halted after piling was completed due to rising material costs, only resuming in 1952 on a new site. The aquarium opened in September 1955, after multiple delays and with part of the costs borne by the City Council, and had 150,000 visitors in its first three months of operation. The aquarium remained popular through the 1970s, but by 1991, despite having been renovated between 1986 and 1987 for $750,000, it was viewed as out of date and it closed in May 1991. The aquarium was subsequently reopened as World of Aquarium in October 1991, which closed less than two years later due to poor business, and again as Fort Canning Aquarium in 1993, but it eventually closed for good in 1996 and was demolished two years later.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Van Kleef Aquarium (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Van Kleef Aquarium
River Valley Road, Singapore Singapore River

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Van Kleef AquariumContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 1.2928888888889 ° E 103.84519444444 °
placeShow on map

Address

Fort Canning

River Valley Road 170
179038 Singapore, Singapore River
Singapore
mapOpen on Google Maps

Share experience

Nearby Places