Restored splendour in the city

Grand structure: The Whiteaways Arcade in Beach Street will be seen by non-competition Starwalkers on their route.

HIDDEN treasures are not only found buried underground, as is evident with The Whiteaways Arcade in George Town, Penang.

The two-storey structure, which remains largely unchanged from its original state built in 1903, had fallen into disrepair by the turn of the 21st century.

Years of ad hoc renovations by tenants had shrouded the original architecture, that only began to re-emerge after extensive restoration.

Clarence Tan, a senior project manager for landlord PPB Hartabina Sdn Bhd, said the commercial complex in Beach Street had housed a variety of trades and services over the years.

“The complex was first built to serve the commercial needs of George Town in the early 1900s.

“The port was just a stone’s throw away and there was a significant expatriate community living here,” he said in an interview.

The building’s first anchor tenant was Whiteaway Laidlaw & Co — a famous Calcutta department store chain for household needs — and the complex was quickly dubbed ‘Whiteaways’ by the Penang community.

Besides the store, Whiteaways also held the office of the Pinang Gazette newspaper, Eastern Extension Telegraph Co, Nederlands-Indian Discount Bank, import-export house Alfred Stuhlman & Co, engineers Riley, Hargreaves & Co along with Denny & Co, an auctioneers and forwarders firm.

Tan said that after the Second World War, a ‘second wave’ of tenants filled the building.

“The upstairs floor held accountants and lawyers while downstairs, there were food and beverage places, convenient stores, newspaper venders and money changers.

“These tenants did their own renovations to the building’s lots, and a lot of the original traits were hidden in the process,” he said.

After the building was vacated following the repeal of the Rent Control Act in 2000, the landowners embar- ked on a RM10mil restoration project with help from conservation architect Laurence Loh of Arkitek LLA Sdn Bhd.

“When we started to pull down the renovations and partitions, we discovered many things.

“There were Scottish cast iron columns, staircases made of solid granite blocks and without the mezzanine floors, the ceilings were found to be 15ft (4.6m) from the ground,” Tan said.

He added that during the restoration, that ran from September 2004 to Decem-ber 2010, a triangle-shaped backyard, which had been used by tenants and workers, had been transformed into an inner courtyard.

“We sacrificed one of the ground floor lots to build a pathway to the back.

“In keeping with the style of the building, floor tiles were salvaged from other parts of the building to adorn the walkway,” Tan said.

The courtyard, that contains ‘benches’ and a stage made from granite slabs that were originally part of the building’s foundation, now plays host to a variety of events and gatherings.

Tan said efforts were underway to create an arts-based monthly market in the area on every second weekend of the month through an organisation called Luma (Lighting Up the Media Arts).

The Whiteaways Arcade and its neighbour Logan Heritage are among several sites on a new heritage route that will be plied by non-competition Starwalkers on Sept 17.

Penang Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas will flag off Penang Starwalk 2012 at Birch House, Penang Times Square, at 6.30am on the day that is a replacement public holiday for Malaysia Day that falls on Sunday.

Other sites on the walk include Customs Building (formerly Malayan Railway Building), Pinang Peranakan Mansion, Acheen Street Malay Mosque, the Clan Jetties, Tan Kongsi, Wisma Yeap Chor Ee and the Church Street Pier.