Calls to preserve Runnymede Hotel

Once home to Stamford Raffles, the hotel survived many masters but has now been abandoned and left to decay.

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang state government has urged the owner of an abandoned colonial heritage city hotel at No. 40, Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah to undertake an immediate restoration project to preserve and conserve the structure.

State executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow said that land owner Runnymede Hotels Sdn Bhd should repair, refurbish, strengthen and replace the decaying and broken structures of the building soon to save it from total collapse.

The executive councillor in charge of local government, traffic management and flood mitigation said this was in line with state heritage guidelines that demanded owners initiate works to preserve and conserve classified heritage buildings.

Chow revealed that Runnymede Hotels had submitted a plan to redevelop the land the building sits on – Lot 131, 132 and 133, into a hotel and office lots, in 1999, which was approved by the island council, MPPP.

While the project to redevelop the colonial style hotel is yet to take off, the approved project plan is still valid since the KWSP Tower on Lot 131 has already been constructed.

Chow revealed that authorities had received numerous public complaints regarding abandoned heritage buildings located in the city, one of which was the colonial Runnymede Hotel.

“Until any remaining project plans are carried out, the company should undertake a preservation and conservation programme to protect the Runnymede Hotel heritage building,” Chow told newsmen while visiting the site here today.

Chow, who is also the Padang Kota assemblyman, was accompanied by the MPPP heritage department director Noor Hanis Noordin.

Checks showed the abandoned building in a state of decay, engulfed by undergrowth, with a collapsed roof and broken structures.

Noor Hanis said that during her recent meeting with representatives of the landowner, she was informed they were working on the project. She advised them the heritage building would need to be protected in line with local council heritage guidelines.

“They should carry out the project to protect the building from decay first. Then work on making the building operational.

“They are currently fine tuning the details of their plan,” she told newsmen.

The Runnymede at Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah, formerly Northam Road, is the name for a group of buildings located by the city seafront in George Town.

It served many masters

Historical records show that Sir Stamford Raffles and his family resided in Runnymede when he lived in Penang in the early 1800s before leaving for Singapore.

The house was named Runnymede after the field on which King John of England signed the Magna Carta.

Originally it was to be a single-storey building with louvered wooden window shutters, carved balconies, deep cool eaves and large, open living spaces within.

The main three-storey seafront building was later built in the 1930s. It houses a huge ballroom on the ground floor, with guestrooms on the first and second floors.

In 1935, the Runnymede Hotel, run by Scotsmen, W Foster and H Parker, had its own post office, telegraph office, hairdresser, book store, reading room, billiard room, railway ticketing office, and a fleet of chauffeured motorcars.

The British Navy took over the hotel in 1940 and in 1942, during the Japanese occupation, it was used as a Japanese military base.

It was again used by the British colonial government for military occupation in 1951 until 1957 after which the British sold it to the new Malayan government for M$1.00.

Since then, Runnymede changed names to Wisma Persekutuan, and was used as a government rest house after which it was used by the Division 2 base of the Malaysian Army before moving to Bukit Gedung recently.

Located just outside the city heritage enclave, the building has been listed as a Category Two Heritage by MPPP.