There are several places in Singapore named promenade, such as the Marina Promenade and the Singapore River Promenade -but do you know what the word ‘promenade’ actually means? The word ‘promenade’ refers to a public area for walking and is also a verb for taking a leisurely walk. In this post, we explore another promenade that no longer exists today. Where is this place, taken during the 1960s?

The sea might have been a good hint; this is the Nicoll Highway, before land reclamation works. Jerome writes about a promenade that ran alongside it by the sea:

The Promenade used to run along the coast by the Nicoll Highway, and started from where the Esplanade left off at the Stamford Canal, running along the length of what had been the coast to the Merdeka Bridge. The Promenade opened in 1959, and was a place where families could take evening walks and enjoy the sea breeze, or where one could do a spot of fishing. It was with us when I was growing up in the 1960s up to the 1970s when the commencement of land reclamation in 1971 saw the Promenade losing its appeal before being completely made irrelevant by the 67 hectares of land which was added to the area of the sea where the Promenade was. This was part of a massive reclamation project which stretched from Prince Edward Road all the way eastward to Changi, giving Singapore a total of 1162 hectares of land along its southern coastline by the time it was completed in 1978.

What else was special about this promenade? It was also referred to as the ‘People’ Promenade’ – the reason for this name can be found in Jerome’s post The treble-carriageway by the Promenade.