Empress Place Building 
From Singapore Hotels & Singapore Lifestyle
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This neo-classical Empress Place Building named in honour of Queen Victoria, is one of the oldest structures in Singapore. It was first unveiled in 1854 as a courthouse and later housed Singapore's legislative assembly, but by the 1960s, it had been reduced to a hotch-potch of various government offices. By the early 1980s, the building had seen better days, and there was talk of demolition. Fortunately, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) saw the potential of the building and spent millions renovating it. It engaged the services of a French Gothic and Neo-Classical conservationist, Didier Repellin, who sought out artisans from Europe to help restore the building to its original splendour. In 1989, it re-opened as the Empress Place Museum showcasing rare Chinese artefacts but it closed after some years. In February 2003, the building became the new home of the present Asian Civilisations Museum.
