SINGAPORE'S grand old lady is getting her most expensive makeover yet. Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall will be refurbished and reconfigured to add more space for arts groups.

The price tag: $180 million, almost a third of what it cost to build the Esplanade.

This sum is on top of the $115 million set aside for the next five years to grow Singapore into a global arts city. The premises will close in 2010 and reopen three years later.

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