NS Square is due in 2027, and it's more than a parade ground

The Float was always meant to be temporary. Its replacement comes with a swimming pool.

If you paddle, run the Marina Bay loop or spend every August hunting for a parade view, NS Square is worth watching; for everyone else it is a 2027 construction target, not a plan. It replaces the floating platform on the bay with a permanent stage and grandstand, and the part that will matter on ordinary days is what surrounds it: a water sports centre, an elevated swimming pool and restaurants on the water. No opening date, tenants or prices have been announced, so for now the only practical effect is the detour along Raffles Avenue.

It was announced in 2017, during the NS50 celebrations, as a tribute to National Servicemen and their families, which is why there's a gallery as well as a stage, and it was meant to arrive sooner. When the government announced the build in 2023, the original target of late 2026 had slipped to 2027 because of Covid-19 delays. Expand Construction, the firm behind the Marina Bay waterfront promenade and the Esplanade Waterfront Theatre, won the tender, and the Marina Promenade in front of the platform closed to pedestrians that September, with the Raffles Avenue detour that bay walkers will know well by now.

The centrepiece is a stage deck extending into Marina Reservoir with a circular grandstand for about 30,000 people. It is slated to host future National Day Parades and the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown, and the seating can be reconfigured for concerts, performances and sport.

The rest is more useful: a water sports centre for kayaking, canoeing and dragon boating, water play areas, a gym and a team-building hall. The stage itself becomes public space for sport, recreation and weekend markets, a new waterfront promenade will help close the walking loop around the bay, and several restaurants are expected, some with bay views. The gallery runs to two storeys of multimedia exhibits on National Service, with hardware on display and space given to the SAF, SPF and SCDF (expect a lot of parents pointing at things and saying 'that's what we used').

Nobody has said which National Day Parade will be the first held there. Until there is a date, the parade-view hunt carries on as before.

Good to know Under construction on the former Float at Marina Bay site, with completion targeted for 2027. No opening date, tenant list or prices announced yet.

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NS Square | Former Float at Marina Bay site, Raffles Avenue