Kallang Airport (also known as the Kallang Aerodrome, Kallang Airfield and RAF Kallang) was the first purpose-built civil international airport in Singapore, opened officially on 12 June 1937 and ceased operations in 1955, when it was relocated to Paya Lebar. Situated on the eastern shore of the Kallang Basin, the Kallang Airport spanned the modern planning areas of Kallang and Geylang at its greatest extent. The conserved complex, including the airport's terminal building, is located wholly within Kallang. Boasting an anchorage area for seaplanes along the airport's perimeter on the Kallang Basin, the Kallang Airport was hailed as "the finest airport in the British Empire" at that time. Famous aviator Amelia Earhart once described it as "an aviation miracle of the East". Construction of the Kallang Airport began in 1931 with of mangrove swampland being reclaimed. It resulted in the displacement of a large Malay community to the area around Jalan Eunos. Three Hawker Osprey aircraft first touched down in the Kallang Airport around two years before its official opening, on 21 November 1935. During World War II, the Kallang Airport was the only operational airfield in Singapore capable of supporting Allied campaigns against the Japanese forces. It was during the Japanese occupation period that the airport's grass landing zone was upgraded into a concrete runway and extended to . As early as 1950, plans were made to build a new airport at Paya Lebar (the current Paya Lebar Air Base) as the Kallang Airport was unable to cope with the increase in air traffic despite being expanded. The Kallang Airport finally closed in 1955. The Kallang Airport compound was subsequently occupied by several organisations following its decommissioning, the most notable being the People's Association which used the facility as its headquarters from 1960 to 2009. While most parts of the airport were demolished soon after its closure, numerous structures remain. The structures which were gazetted for conservation by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on 5 December 2008 include the airport's terminal building, administrative blocks, aircraft hangars and control tower. The conserved complex is currently unoccupied. Other parts of the Kallang Airport were redeveloped. The area surrounding the airport's former runway was first converted into the Kallang Park, a large public park created as part of "Project Lung"; later, the old National Stadium was built on the same site; today, the Singapore Sports Hub (including the new National Stadium and Singapore