Tuesday, December 20, 2011

New use for an old school.

Princess Elizabeth Estate School (PEES) was built in 1955 and remained in the same location till 1st March 1987 when it moved to the new building at Bukit Batok New Town. It was renamed Princess Elizabeth Primary School.

The old school building at Elizabeth Drive was then converted to the Red Cross Home for the Disabled.
The Red Cross Home was relocated elsewhere in March 2010 and the building remained vacant.
The old building is now being converted to a new nursing home. It will be called the United Medicare Nursing Home.

My four siblings and myself, all ex-PEES, plus a whole generation of children, from around that area will always recall the old school with mixed feelings. But one thing I am sure is that we are all glad is that the building is not being demolished.

Here are some pictures of our old alma mater being converted to the new United Medicare Nursing Home.

Renovation works 20 Dec 2011.



The old servants quarters still exists.
Though the small school field is gone.

5 comments:

  1. Looi Boon HweeDecember 20, 2011

    Perhaps you and your four siblings will come a full circle one day and check into the Nursing Home as residents :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. How true! Better make an advance booking now. ha ha

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi James,

    Thank you very much on your interesting post on the history of the PEES and the current United Medical Nursing home! I recently went to visit my uncle who is currently staying at the nursing home and was caught by the serenity of the whole place! I was also wondering about the old building which is just a simple structure of 3 floors in a row. Interesting to know that it was a school that's why. By the time I went to primary school, it was already in those double L-shape type with a square field in the middle, so it did not struck me that the nursing home used to be a school before.

    Mmm....you mentioned that it is likely that the nursing home would only be temporary there. I am not sure how long my uncle will be there but he is currently being well taken care of so I hope it won't relocate anytime soon. Furthermore, I am planning in due time to bring my kids there to distribute some food to the patients there.

    Thank you for the posts which has greatly enlightened and touched me! :>

    Gina

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 22, 2013

    These pictures are priceless. The porch, the servants' quarters, the building itself - memories flood in. I remember my teachers, my friends, the tuckshop. Looking at the school - where the toilets are - I remember how I dreaded to go there. Gave me goosebumps each time I went in. I don't know why. Every now and then, I would get my husband to drive me to the school. Just to see the place where I grew up and gained knowledge. Thanks a million James. You have done an excellent job.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I remember it in the 1990s when I was exploring the area after mountainbiking at bukit timah. this was before the landslides IIRC.

    ReplyDelete