Sheltered courts, indoor pools among new sports facilities in Toa Payoh

In a major rejuvenation of Toa Payoh town, residents will get to enjoy a slew of indoor and sheltered sports facilities – alongside a 10,000-seater stadium and community amenities – when the Toa Payoh Integrated Development (TPID) is completed by 2030.

The development, which is located between Lorong 6 and the PIE, will be the focal point of Toa Payoh, said Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong at a ground-breaking ceremony on Jan 5.

To be built on the site of the former Toa Payoh Sport Centre, which closed on Oct 31, 2023, after 50 years, the TPID will also feature a 2,000-seater aquatic centre with four indoor swimming pools, along with three outdoor leisure pools.

There will also be a 5,000-seater indoor hall with 22 badminton courts, another indoor hall for team sports, a gym and sheltered futsal, tennis and netball courts.

The 12ha development will also house the new Toa Payoh Polyclinic, a bigger library than the current one in Toa Payoh Central and an upgraded town park. The iconic lookout tower will be retained at the town park, and other planned amenities include a dog run and an allotment garden where residents can grow their own greens.

 

Mr Tong hopes the TPID will allow the public to have more opportunities to take part in sports, and also create memories for friends and family.

He added: “As part of our larger Sports Facilities Master Plan, we have been developing as well as refreshing our sporting facilities all over Singapore.

“TPID today is the latest of our efforts to bring top-quality sporting infrastructure that builds community right here in the heartland.”

He thanked the various agencies such as Sport Singapore, National Library Board, National Parks Board and National Healthcare Group Polyclinics, which have “worked tirelessly” on the development.

 

Resident Germaine Chua, who has lived in Toa Payoh all her life, welcomed news of the new integrated development.

The 30-year-old, who works in real estate, said: “I think it’s a very good initiative, because Toa Payoh is rather old already. This (development) will let us catch up with newer towns such as Tampines and those in the north-east.”

Noting that there are a lot of green and sustainability features, she added that this is in line with Singapore’s vision for the future.

Another resident, speech therapist Jackie Li, is looking forward to the completion of the TPID.

The 37-year-old said: “It should be a more vibrant town once everything is ready.”

Just as the Toa Payoh Sport Centre had hosted meets such as the SEA Games, TPID will also be designed to stage sporting and community and events.

The national training centres for aquatics, netball and table tennis will also be located there.

Mr Tong added: “We intend for this to be a secondary hub for sporting facilities. We will have a 10,000-seater stadium right here at TPID and this will complement the existing facilities in Jalan Besar and also in Kallang.”

It will offer another hosting option to the 6,000-capacity Jalan Besar Stadium, when the National Stadium, which seats 55,000, is not available.

 

Singapore’s national netballers are looking forward to moving there from their Kallang premises, which only has outdoor courts. They also train at the widely used OCBC Arena, and sometimes face unavailability of courts.

That might also mean missing out on the chance to host competitions, said Singapore Vandas co-captain Toh Kai Wei, who added: “With a new location, there are more opportunities for us to interact with international opponents.”

National table tennis players, who have also been training temporarily at OCBC Arena, are looking forward to returning to Toa Payoh, where the Singapore Table Tennis Association was located.

Izaac Quek, 18, said: “With these advancements, I hope that more younger athletes will come to the sport and be more motivated.”

 

Mr Darwin Jalil, vice-chairman of Singapore Premier League football club Balestier Khalsa, who played their home matches at the Toa Payoh Stadium, hopes the outfit will return there from Bishan Stadium. The club currently shares the Bishan facility with the Lion City Sailors.

He said: “The Toa Payoh Stadium has been an integral part of our club’s history. Residents and businesses in the vicinity resonate strongly with our deep roots in Toa Payoh.”

While the new Toa Payoh Aquatic Centre will be slightly smaller than the 3,000-seater OCBC Aquatic Centre – which opened in 2014 – Singapore Aquatics president Kenneth Goh believes there will be subtle differences.

He said: “When you compare this new facility to the OCBC Aquatic Centre, there are many similarities, but the main idea is that they’re both state of the art at different points in time.”

The cost of the TPID project was not revealed.

It is among the latest projects under the Sports Facilities Master Plan, a key initiative of the national sports blueprint Vision 2030.

Other integrated community hubs that house multiple facilities include Our Tampines Hub, Heartbeat@Bedok, Bukit Canberra and One Punggol.

Another development, which is scheduled for completion by 2026, is the Punggol Regional Sports Centre. Its facilities include a 5,000-seater football stadium, a swimming complex, an indoor sports hall and an archery field.