They were nice while they lasted.
Tuoi Tre reports that the municipal People's Committee recently approved a Department of Construction plan to renovate District 1's Bach Dang Wharf Park. This will require moving or cutting down 178 trees currently in the riverfront area.
According to the plan, this renovation will consist of two phases: from June 10 to September 2, an 8,700-square-meter space starting at the Thu Ngu Flagpole will be revamped at a cost of US$1.5 million, while through the end of the year, the rest of the park will get US$1.3 million worth of upgrades.
To accommodate this work, almost 200 trees have to be removed. VnExpress adds that 146 will be cut down entirely, while the remaining 32 will be moved elsewhere.
Once complete, the revamped park will reportedly include new paths, fields, trees and lighting systems, while existing buildings — such as berths serving high-speed ferries and other boats — will be remodeled.
The overall park will be divided into three areas: one for historical monuments covering 4,000 square meters, a 5,150-square-meter space for tourism, and a community park spanning 2,750 square meters.
Fencing has already gone up around parts of the wharf, though no renderings of what the new park will look like are available. There is no word on whether the project will include footbridges over Ton Duc Thang, which would help visitors avoid the current death-defying real-life game of Frogger required to reach the river.
