SINGAPORE, Aug 14 — After years of effort by citizens to share and preserve the history of Singapore’s first satellite estate, the heritage of Queenstown will finally have a permanent home in the form of a museum which will be located at one of the Housing and Development Board blocks in the estate.

This was revealed yesterday as part of the My Queenstown Heritage Blueprint 2020, which was drawn up by civic group MyCommunity and the Queenstown Citizens’ Consultative Committee. The museum — scheduled to be completed by 2021 or 2022 — will serve “as a repository of shared memories”, said Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar, Dr Chia Shi-Lu, as he described the plans.

Located at Block 38 Commonwealth Drive, it will house exhibits, such as the music scores of the 1960s band The Quests, which had its beginnings at Queenstown Secondary Technical School.

Meanwhile, heritage corners at six void decks are in the works and scheduled to be completed by next year. The void decks will be recreated as permanent three-dimensional exhibition spaces illustrating the history of the neighbourhood. Old photographs of the estate, contributed by the residents, will adorn the sheltered walkways in places such as the Queenstown MRT Station and Commonwealth MRT Station. Public institutions, such as the Alexandra Fire Station, Queenstown Primary School and Queenstown Public Library, will also house heritage galleries.

The blueprint comes after years of calls to preserve aspects of the estate. Many Singaporeans had expressed dismay when the Queenstown cinema and bowling alley were demolished last July.

On the blueprint, Dr Chia said: “All along, we had plans to promote heritage within the community, but we wanted to have something more concrete, something which has continuity.

“While we look forward to the proposed rejuvenation of the estate, we will also work hard to retain and incorporate our history and heritage into the new developments.”

Other efforts to engage the public include a permanent biannual Queenstown Festival and My Queenstown Symposiums, which will serve as a platform for discussions on heritage and development.

The popular My Queenstown Heritage Trail guided tours, which have drawn more than 2,500 participants, will get a fresh update by March next year. The update will encompass the Princess and Mei Ling neighbourhoods. Residents can also look forward to trail markers and an updated mobile application for the My Queenstown Heritage Trail by the end of this year.

About S$40,000 (RM102,232) has been raised from the public to fund the projects and the hope is to raise at least S$200,000, said Dr Chia. He added that the groups were in discussions with agencies, such as the Tanjong Pagar Town Council, the National Library Board and Singapore Tourism Board, which have shown interest.

Mr Kwek Li Yong, 25, who founded MyCommunity in 2010 to preserve the heritage of Singapore’s civic spaces, said: “We are committed to preserving the heritage of this place. I am proud and happy to see this (blueprint).” — Today