SINGAPORE — In its heyday, the Old Woodlands Town Centre was known for its competitive money-changing rates and for housing a Shaw Brothers-owned cinema. That was in the 1970s, when it was built, and the 1980s.

But as the town expanded and the Causeway Point mall was built, crowds at the town centre dwindled.

“It was a bustling place. Things were cheap,” recalled Mr Abas Kasmani, 64, who used to accompany his grandmother to the town centre in his youth.

Then, modernisation made its way to Woodlands town. In 1996, the bus interchange at the town centre was relocated beneath the Woodlands MRT Station to be Singapore’s first underground bus interchange. Two years later, Causeway Point opened its doors.

The once-vibrant town centre slowly became a ghost town as shoppers flocked to the newly developed parts of Woodlands.

Now, it is slated to become a piece of Singapore’s history, following the authorities’ announcement yesterday that Old Woodlands Town Centre would be redeveloped to house an extension of Woodlands Checkpoint.

Two buildings within the centre — Woodlands Point and its adjacent building, which houses a pre-school and the now-closed cinema — would be acquired to make way for the new development.

Mr Abas, who works in the oil and gas industry, was saddened by the news. “I love this place. The environment is nice, and you see a variety of people here, including Malaysians,” he said. He returned to the area about a year ago to play at a pool parlour in Woodlands Point.

Madam Chong Yoke Chan, 62, has been a cashier at the pool parlour for more than 12 years. She counts, among her friends, the customers who are mainly Malaysians waiting for the jam across the Causeway to subside before heading home.

“It’s a pity. We’ve been here for so long. I’ll miss this,” she said.

In the past, Woodlands Point used to be a bustling mall, with a travel agency, a hair salon, and tuition centres spread across the four storeys.

These days, the dimly lit upper floors are empty, save for one or two businesses on each level.

When TODAY visited the mall, only five establishments — including a fish-bait store, an arcade and a fengshui shop — were opened.

Next door, only a pre-school, with an enrolment size of 70 students between 18 months and six years old, was operating.

The 35-year-old owner of Bait House, who declined to be named, said he would be glad to give up his shop when its tenancy agreement expires this June. He pays S$2,600 in rent a month, and business at his shop, which sells fish bait, has been slow.

“It’s very sleazy at night. (The authorities) should clean it up,” he said.

Over the years, vagrants have taken to spending the night near his shop, and they would often get drunk and rowdy.

“This place is going downhill. It’s a good thing that it’s going to be redeveloped,” he added.