SINGAPORE: A childcare centre, nursing home and dialysis centre, as well as an urban farm will be built on the site of the former Henderson Secondary School, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) said on Tuesday (Sep 25).
In its news release, SLA said that housing three facilities on a single site will cater to the needs of the community living in the area. The planned nursing home and dialysis centre are also expected to meet demand from within the region, the release said.
The integrated site is a collaborative effort between the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA), the release said.
Henderson Secondary vacated the premises after it merged with Bukit Merah Secondary School last year.
The childcare centre is set to occupy a 1,800 sq m two-storey block, and will be run by PAP Community Foundation. The pre-school, which will be able to take in 250 children, is expected to begin operations at the end of next year.
“At this retrofitted premises, the centre will have opportunities to develop spaces for outdoor learning and play, as well as engage in cross-programming with the nursing home and urban farm,” the release said.
As for the urban farm, the site can also be used to test-bed innovative technologies and raise awareness within the community on how food is grown and promote local produce.
A tender will be launched for urban farming use at the end of October.
“Tenders will be assessed on their proposals to see how best they can involve the community and how their operations can be more socially inclusive,” the release said.
“The successful tenderer will be required to curate activities and programmes for the childcare centre, nursing home and the community within the area,” it added.
(Photo: Singapore Land Authority)
SLA deputy director of business planning and development Yap Eai-Sy said: “SLA strives to optimise available sites including vacant schools in new ways that will benefit the community. We are working towards providing a wide range of use to optimise state properties and to provide for the changing environmental needs.”
