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The impending demolition of the iconic school gate at Mount Vernon has gotten batches of Maris Stella High School students feeling poignant.

Iconic entrance gate to be demolished after 24 years

The school's official Facebook page announced that the entrance gate will demolished after 24 years to make way for the housing project at Bidadari.

A new archway will be built once the new entrance at Bartley Walk is completed.

"As with so many things in Singapore, change is ever constant; but through this, the Marist Spirit continues to prevail," the post added.

Petition to protect the gate

However, the fond memories and the heritage value of this particular school gate has made it difficult for some Marists to accept this decision.

This led to one Harold Yeo, supposedly an alumnus, to start a petition in attempt to conserve this unique structure.

The petition has since garnered over 2,500 signatures, as of the time of writing.

Another alumnus who emailed Mothership said that the gate is an iconic structure with heritage value, given its traditional Chinese archway style which you no longer see in modern buildings.

It is also of sentimental value to alumni and is part of the "Marist identity".

Announcement came 'abruptly'

The announcement came "so abruptly" that the alumni are not aware of any consultations that the school and relevant authorities have made, he told Mothership.

He added that with the petition, he hopes that the authorities can change their mind on demolishing the gate entirely and seek ways to conserve the gate. He said:

"There is nothing wrong with redeveloping the land for BTO housing purposes; what I am concerned is whether alternatives to demolition of the archway [were] considered, and consultations with the relevant authorities were made to determine the feasibility of the alternatives.

If integration with the upcoming estate is not possible, the archway can be relocated in one piece, or it could be dismantled and rebuilt along the school’s new Bartley Walk entrance (barring any structural issues). Demolishing this archway and constructing a brand new one will not help in connecting future generation of Marists to alumni like us."

Many who signed the petition and left comments shared the same sentiment as this alumnus.

Here are screenshots of some comments written on the petition page:

To view more comments, click here.

Top image via screenshot of petition on Change.org