This aerial view of the civic district on the north bank of the Singapore River shows the prominent colonial landmarks found in the area, notably: the Empress Place Building (right centre) along the river bank; the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall (centre) with its distinctive clock tower; the Old Parliament House (centre); the Old Supreme Court Building (left centre) with its classical-style dome; the historic City Hall (left centre); and the Padang (centre), the open field at the centre of the civic district used for social, sporting and civic activities. Docked along the banks of the Singapore River are the ‘twakow’ lighter vessels. The two structures straddling the mouth of the river are the Anderson and Cavenagh Bridges (right centre) while the structure further upriver is the Elgin Bridge (left centre).The picture also shows the new multi-storey structures built as part of the government urban renewal plans for the city centre. Prominent new buildings added to the civic district skyline included: the Colombo Court shopping and office complex (behind Old Supreme Court Building) developed and completed by the Housing and Development Board in 1971; the 22-storey Peninsula Hotel (behind Colombo Court), erected in 1974 by private developers as part of the Peninsula hotel and shopping complex; the 32-storey Peninsula Plaza (next to Peninsula Hotel), an office and shopping complex opened in late 1979; and the 31-storey High Street Centre (left centre) residential, office and shopping complex, which was completed in 1974. The shot also captures the land reclamation work for the Marina Centre (right background) area that would later become the site of the Marina Square shopping, hotel and recreational complex.
