It’s truly upsetting when an iconic building is about to be demolished to make way for a new project. Two years ago, many said goodbye to and reminisced about the times they spent at Plaza OUG after news broke out that it would be replaced with 2 high-rise buildings and a new shopping mall.
It appears that three other buildings are about to meet the same fate as it was revealed that PKNS Shah Alam Complex, the Shah Alam Convention Centre (SACC) and SACC Mall would soon be replaced with something that netizens believed to be unnecessary.
Over the weekend, a Twitter user who goes by @/mhxqlr claimed that the PKNS Shah Alam Complex, SACC and SACC Mall will soon be demolished. It was actually reported back in December when the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) revealed their plans for the RM2 billion Shah Alam city rejuvenating project, which involves the aforementioned three establishments.
However, it was only assumed that the buildings would undergo renovations, not demolition. According to the viral tweet posted, additional information about the project was said to have been displayed at the PKNS office building’s lobby for quite some time and the uploader even provided a photo of the model of the high-rise condominiums that will soon replace the three popular buildings.
As reported by The Star last year, the project is said to be an effort to make Shah Alam a “net zero carbon city, with buildings upgraded using a centralised chill water system” and is expected to be 90% completed by 2028. “The development comprises several components including service apartments, hotels and upgrading of shopping centres as well as SACC Walk. It will focus on the concept of transit-oriented development (TOD) together with Smart City Concept,” said PKNS CEO Datuk Mahmud Abbas.
After sharing the sad news on Twitter, netizens were devastated that the 47-year-old shopping complex and other two establishments would no longer be standing. Many said that high-rise condominiums are completely unnecessary. Others complained that a new luxury residential building with a mall would only bring more traffic to the area. A few suggested that the PKNS Complex should only be renovated, not demolished.
There is currently no information on when exactly the demolition process will start but one thing’s for sure is that it will definitely be hard for Shah Alam locals to say goodbye to PKNS Complex Shah Alam, SACC and SACC Mall.
Update (Tuesday, 19th March)
After speculations going around that the PKNS Complex Shah Alam, SACC and SACC Mall will be demolished, PKNS quickly released an official statement to deny those rumours and added that they will also be filing a police report. Here’s the full statement:
