YANGON, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Pegu Club, a historical building in Myanmar's former capital city of Yangon, has been awarded a blue plaque by the Yangon Heritage Trust to mark it as a heritage site in the city.

A ceremony for installing the plaque at the club on Thursday was attended by Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein and Speaker of Yangon Region Parliament U Tin Maung Tun.

Pegu Club was the premier social club of Myanmar during the British colonial period, located in the heart of Yangon.

"In its new incarnation, the club should seek to overturn history and be the opposite of what the club was in colonial times, educating Myanmar people about the ills of colonialism," said Yangon Heritage Trust Founder and Chairman U Than Myint.

The original Pegu Club was founded in 1882 by the British and reconstructed in 1922 when Prince of Wales Great Hall was added to the building in anticipation of the prince's visit then.

In 1965, 17 years after Myanmar's independence, the club was closed down and transformed into a barrack for military officers.

For many years now, a business group has been leasing the club for holding parties and events.