© David Ayres, Community Centre Jesselton, Kota Kinabalu, 5 October 1967, (link)

The idea to build a community centre in Kota Kinabalu, then Jesselton originated from the Committee of the Management of Japanese Assets in 1953. A sum of $67,000 was approved for the construction. A competition among architects for the best design was held. Its closing date was the 30th January 1954. Billings Leong won the competition with the prize money of $500.00. The design of the building was to house basically a basketball court, which is convertible to 3 badminton courts and to have a seating capacity of 800.

In 1955, Billings Leong was appointed by the then Jesselton Town Board to take over the design of the community centre. Billings Leong sought the advice of Standard Steel Pty. Ltd. in Melbourne, Australia on the possible use of steel trusses for the construction. The distinctiveness of the design was the pin based gable frame with a 15 degree pitch.

The steel fabricated framework was sourced from Melbourne, Australia. Tender for the project was signed on the 20th September 1957. The contract to build the community centre was won by China Construction (Borneo) Ltd. The Contract sum was $225,950.00. The contract was signed on the 30th September 1957. Four and a half months was stipulated for the completion of the building beginning from 11th October 1957.

The final sum for the Community Centre, which included among others, a water tank, electrical installation of fans and fittings was $280,730.16. The contribution of $67,000 by the Committee of Japanese Assets was paid directly to the contractor China Construction (Borneo) Ltd.

In March 1958, the Community Centre was officially opened by the Governor Sir Roland Turnbull.

• Developer
• Jesselton Town Board

• Year Of Completion
• 1958

• Project Cost
• 280,730.16

• Land Area
• 0.57 acres

• Programme
• Community Hall