This building starting as an English Boy’s School known as Victoria Institution named after Queen Victoria who was then Queen of the British Empire. The Victorian English cottage-style building is inspired by the English architect, A.C Norman who was in charge of the Public Works Department in 1893.
The foundation stone of the school was laid on 14 August 1893 by Lady William Hood Treacher, wife of Sir William Hood Treacher who was the British Resident in Selangor at that time. The establishment of this school is due to the needs for an English school in Kuala Lumpur at par with Raffles Institution in Singapore. The school was officially opened on 3 July 1894 and Mr. Bennett Eyre Shaw was the first principal of the school.
The school's financial allocation was derived from the excess funds raised of $ 3,188 in conjunction with the Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee celebration in 1887 and $ 5,000 was derived from government grants. Sultan Abdul Samad Shah Ibni Al-Marhum Tengku Abdullah, the then Sultan of Selangor, contributed $ 1,100 while 3 multi-racial community leaders in Kuala Lumpur, Yap Kwan Seng, Wong Loke Yew and Tamboosamy Pillay contributed $ 1,100 each making a grand total allocation of $ 21,000.
Victoria Institution stands firm as an educational institution with many notable achivements. On 28 March 1929, a new curriculum was introduced where drama and debate activities were an important addition. However, in that same year, Victoria Institution was relocated to Petaling Hill to accommodate the increase in students population and to avoid the severe floods that began to hit around 1926.
The Victoria Institution building was then occupied by Kuala Lumpur Technical College students until it was transferred to Universiti Malaysia Teknologi (UTM) at Jalan Gurney or better known as Jalan Semarak in the 1950s. The building was subsequently taken over by High Street School before it was relocated to Setapak, to be known as Setapak High School.
The rise of the artistic and cultural era in theater and dance fields in the 1970s and 80s compelled the lovers of artistic folklore around Kuala Lumpur who made this Victoria Institution building a centre for training, gathering and reviewing arts and cultural activities.
In the late 1980s, the Culture Park, better known as the Drama Theater or the Arts Center, was then run by by Kuala Lumpur City Hall. Various artistic and cultural activities were carried out and have indirectly inspired the cultural activities around Kuala Lumpur.
Names such as Mustapha Noor, Fauziah Nawi, Normah Nordin, Dato 'Nordin Kardi, Sani Sudin, Siso, Meor Hashim Manaf, Khalid Salleh, Fatimah Abu Bakar Rahman B, Rohani B, Ahmad B, Jalaluddin Hassan and Dinsman are part of the artistic cultural activities that exist in this Cultural Park. The lack of training centre for theatre and arts in Kuala Lumpur around the 1970s and 80s has attracted more lovers and arts enthusiasts to make Kuala Lumpur Cultural Park a training center for the art performance.
The 106-year-old historic building which has been a great centre for theatre lovers was shocked by a fire that almost destroyed the whole original structure on 26 July 1999. This cause of the fire was not known. Realising the importance of preserving the cultural heritage, the original building of the Block 1 Victoria Institution was restored and rebuilt on the original site.
The reconstruction process began on 28 October 2002 and was completed in 2005 at a cost of more than RM7 million. The redevelopment of the art centre was carried out by the government and the centre is now equipped with state-of-the-art technology and equipment under the administration of the Department of Culture and Arts of the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur or Jabatan Kebudayaan dan Kesenian Negara, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur.
The geocache
The geocache is a glass container with a log book located near a tree. Please bring your own pen to log. It is located outside the fence and available 24/7.
Appreciation
Congratulations to Adventurebuddy for the FTF
Thanks to Angelou666, Barnyard dawg, Timke48, Wandelsloefke, and maskal for the Favourite Points given. Much Appreciated.
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