Breaking New Ground

Esplanade broke ground for the construction of our new 550-seat Singtel Waterfront Theatre on 18 Jun 2019, Tuesday. The ceremony was officiated by then-Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Grace Fu; Esplanade Chairman, Lee Tzu Yang; then-Singtel Group CEO, Chua Sock Koong and guests included arts practitioners and Esplanade’s donors and sponsors. During the event, we also launched a series of new fundraising initiatives designed for a spectrum of supporters, from the general public to philanthropists and foundations. 

These included Ground Up, a year-long fundraising initiative where the public was encouraged to donate $10 to help us build this new theatre. The waterfront theatre’s Founding Donor, Bowen Enterprises Pte Ltd, matched the donations dollar for dollar up to $50,000. Over $80,000* was raised for Esplanade’s newest venue through Ground Up.

Opening in 2022, the new theatre will fill the gap between Esplanade’s large venues and smaller studio spaces. It will enable us to further support future generations of artists and arts groups to create new works that tell Singapore and Asian stories and widen our engagement with various communities.
  

*Total amount contributed to the Ground Up initiative, through various donation channels including Giving.sg.