Previously an important landmark, the former National Theatre (Chinese: 国家剧场) was built on the slope of Fort Canning Park along River Valley Road in the Museum Planning Area of Singapore. The theatre, with a capacity of 3,420 seats, was officially opened on 8 August 1963 to commemorate Singapore's self-government and was the first and largest national theatre in Singapore back then.[1] It was the venue for various international performances, universities' convocations and the National Day rallies until it was demolished in mid-1986 to make way for construction of Singapore's first MRT lines which opened in 1987 .