GEORGE TOWN: An old abandoned colonial heritage hotel here has been partially demolished by its landowners, much to the chagrin of heritage activists who had called for it to be restored.
The Runnymede Hotel, believed to be close to 200 years old, sits at 40, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah. The former home of Penang governor’s assistant secretary Sir Stamford Raffles, the 2.72ha North Beach seafront buildings were once considered
the most luxurious hotel East of Suez.
The buildings pre-date to 1800s and had endured bombings by the Japanese during World War 2.
Now, it has been earmarked for a five-star hotel and mixed development project.
Local heritage-interest group Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) vice-president Khoo Salma Nasution said the building could have been restored and turned into a heritage icon.
“It is worth more when preserved as a whole than partially demolished. The central three-storey building is absolutely stunning.
“The other buildings are much older and full of history. The Runnymede was already a successful hotel a decade ago and could be again if it was restored.”
She said the local authorities should have consulted the public and engaged talks with local heritage campaigners before taking down such historical structures.
“There are no signs erected outside to inform the public about the project. We don’t know what is going on and we are still trying to figure out what is going on.
Members of PHT sounded the alarm after spotting the backhoes and tractors clearing up three to four annexe buildings that made up the hotel on Tuesday.
The three-storey main hotel building, however, was spared from demolition.
Checks on the e-Local Government One Stop Centre (OSC) portal showed the landowners had applied to build a 31-storey, 180-room hotel tower, a 12-storey commercial and office tower and a 61-storey apartment block there.
The portal also indicated that the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) had received the planning permission application on July 27 last year. However, on Nov 24, OSC had cancelled the application.
Khoo questioned why the planning permission was renewed yearly ever since it was approved in 1999.
“If the OSC has decided to cancel the application, why is work still allowed on the site?”
When contacted for comments, Local Government Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the MBPP had issued a letter to the developer, allowing the work to be carried out.
“The developers were given permission via a letter from the council to demolish the buildings last week.
“The approval to do so is based on an approved planning permission, which encompasses the approval for the Employees Provident Fund building next door,” he said.
However, Chow did not respond to a question on the OSC’s cancelled status on the planning approval.
In 2014, MBPP had ordered the landowners to restore the main building and ensure the safety of six other buildings in the Runnymede compound, which were in a state of disrepair.
Activist and blogger Anil Netto described the clearing of the buildings was reminiscent of the way the Metropole Hotel was cleared in the 1990s.
“On the second day of Chinese New Year, heritage circles were abuzz with talk that several buildings in the Runnymede property were being torn down.
“It is reminiscent of the way the Metropole Hotel was flattened under stealth on Christmas Day, 1993,” he wrote on his blog post yesterday.
Metropole Hotel, formerly Asdang House, was demolished to
build a 29-storey high-end condominium.
Runnymede started as a brick bungalow, rented in 1811 by Raffles who was then the assistant secretary to the governor.
Gutted by fire in 1921 and rebuilt as a hotel in the 1930s, it was requisitioned by the British army for an officers’ mess.
After Merdeka, the building
became a government rest and recreation centre named Wisma Persekutuan. It later served as the Malaysian Armed Forces Second Division base.