SINGAPORE: Fifteen national monuments will receive S$2.61 million to fund restoration and maintenance works this year, the National Heritage Board (NHB) announced on Tuesday (Sep 10).
The funding will be disbursed through the National Monuments Fund, which was set up in 2008 to help with the cost of preserving historic buildings and structures.
AdvertisementAdvertisementOf the S$2.61 million, S$2.5 million will co-fund restoration works and S$115,000 will co-fund the maintenance of the national monuments.
This year's monuments include first-time recipient St Andrew's Cathedral, the oldest Anglican house of worship in Singapore, which will get S$977,000 for restoration works. It will also receive close to S$51,000 from the maintenance fund.
The cathedral will be repainted, its pews, stalls, doors and windows restored and the timber flooring in the bell tower will be refurbished.
The works will also include termite control and the removal of vegetation on or near the cathedral and spot repair of artefacts or features.
AdvertisementAdvertisementOther recipients this year include the Thian Hock Keng Temple, Church of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the the Chesed-El Synagogue and the Maghain Aboth Synagogue.
[h=3]READ: In pictures: 8 Singapore national monuments get a Lego makeover[/h]"Our national Monuments are important symbols of our past, protected today by the diverse communities they continue to serve," said Ms Jean Wee, director of NHB's Preservation of Sites and Monuments division, which administers the fund.
"Fourteen of the 15 grant recipients this year, are repeat applicants," she added. "This augurs well as an indication that earlier restoration has spurred them to continue and widen their preservation efforts on site.”
The National Monuments Fund is disbursed through a co-funding scheme aimed at encouraging responsible ownership of national monuments.
Application is open to national monuments that are owned and managed by non-profit or religious organisations.
There are currently 31 non-profit or religious national monuments which qualify for the grant.
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