5 Singapore Malls That Closed Down: JCube, Peace Centre and More

When each of the five malls closed

JCube in Jurong East ran from 2 April 2012 to 6 August 2023, which makes it the youngest mall on this list by a long way: 11 years and it was gone. Specialists' Shopping Centre on Orchard Road opened in 1972 and shut in 2007, with John Little closing its branch there on 9 July that year before the building came down in early 2008. Liang Court opened on 20 January 1984 and closed on 1 April 2020. Peace Centre on Selegie Road opened in the mid 1970s and traded until 28 January 2024. Tanglin Shopping Centre opened in 1972 and was demolished in 2024 after 52 years. Four of the five went the same way, an en bloc sale followed by a condo, which is its own kind of Singapore story. If you want more of this feeling, our list of childhood online games and whether they still work covers the other half of growing up here.

JCube: the ice rink and the suburban IMAX

The Rink was the point of JCube. CapitaLand built it with the Singapore Sports Council as a non-profit Olympic-size ice rink, and for a decade it was where west-side kids had birthday parties and fell over in front of strangers. The mall also had Singapore's first IMAX screen outside the city centre. CapitaLand announced the redevelopment on 7 February 2023 and the mall closed that August. What is going up is J'den, a 40-storey residential tower with shops on the first two floors, targeted for completion in 2027. If you still want ice, Kallang Ice World at Leisure Park Kallang is the public rink left in Singapore, and Ice Penguin at Clarke Quay is a synthetic rink that opened in March 2026.

Peace Centre and Tanglin Shopping Centre: two long goodbyes

Peace Centre had several lives. KTV lounges, then tuition centres, then in its final years a thrift and vintage crowd that treated the half-empty units as cheap studio space. After the $650 million en bloc sale the demolition kept getting pushed back, and the developer let a project called PlayPan turn the empty mall into a creative playground from October 2023 until it shut for good on 28 January 2024. That thrift crowd did not disappear, it moved, and a lot of it now sits in the Bugis Street level 2 thrift market.

Liang Court and Specialists': the Kinokuniya and the first Orchard mall

Liang Court was the Japanese one. Daimaru anchored it from 1984 until 2003, Meidi-Ya took over the supermarket after that, and the Kinokuniya there ran for 32 years before closing in April 2019, a year before the mall itself. The site is now CanningHill Piers, two residential towers with a retail podium called CanningHill Square and a Moxy hotel.

FAQs

Why did JCube close?

CapitaLand announced on 7 February 2023 that it would redevelop the site, and JCube closed on 6 August 2023 after 11 years. A 40-storey residential development called J'den is being built there, with shops on the first two floors and completion targeted for 2027.

Where can I go ice skating in Singapore now that The Rink at JCube is gone?

Kallang Ice World at Leisure Park Kallang is the public ice rink in Singapore. Ice Penguin at Clarke Quay opened in March 2026 and uses synthetic ice rather than real ice.

When did Peace Centre close?

Peace Centre traded until 28 January 2024. It had already been sold en bloc for $650 million, and in its last months a project called PlayPan ran the empty mall as a creative space from October 2023.

What replaced Liang Court?

CanningHill Piers, a development between Fort Canning Hill and the Singapore River with two residential towers, a retail podium called CanningHill Square, a Moxy hotel and serviced residences.

What was the first shopping mall on Orchard Road?

Specialists' Shopping Centre, which opened in 1972 on the site of the Pavilion Theatre with John Little as its anchor tenant. It closed in 2007, was demolished in early 2008, and Orchard Gateway now stands there.