$1b Promise Of This Green Oasis

Source : Weekend TODAY, November 10, 2007

Gardens by the Bay to open in 2010; plans for 'magical' landscape finally unveiled

SETTING aside prime land at Marina Bay, next to the upcoming new financial district, for a 101-hectare garden may seem puzzling to some — but there are enormous economic benefits as well as intangible value to be gained from this.

Painting a picture of what a foreign visitor would see, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said: "Imagine you are coming in from the airport … you are driving down East Coast Parkway and then, if you climb over (Benjamin) Sheares Bridge, you will see the city opening up.

"And as you go, you see the beautiful gardens opening up, especially at night. What a magical scene that will be."

At Friday's groundbreaking ceremony of Gardens by the Bay, the complete and detailed plan for this green oasis was laid out for the first time. It includes exotic conservatories housing plants from far-flung lands, themed gardens and extraordinary super-trees on top of which one might entertain.

In terms of cold hard cash, the gardens are expected to draw 2.7 million visitors annually, contributing more than $1 billion to the economy over 10 years.

Those with property in the area could also see the value of their real estate jump — by as much as $8 billion for the whole area collectively, some professional valuers estimate.

Then, there are the intangible pleasures, not just for tourists, but residents too.

Mr Mah said: "We took this position that we're going to make this a wonderful place for all Singaporeans to come and enjoy themselves."

Costing $900 million, the first phase of construction — the 54-hectare Gardens at Marina South — should be completed by end-2010. The other two gardens at Marina East and Marina Centre will be constructed after 2010.

The gardens will strive to be environmentally sustainable, using energy-efficient technology. And while the public will have free access to most areas, there will be entrance fees to some special features such as the conservatories and supertrees.

These are more expensive to build, and indeed, overall construction costs have gone up 30 per cent from the time of conceptualisation to the ground-breaking, said project director Tan Wee Kiat.

What the public pay to visit these few features will go towards offsetting the running costs for the gardens. Even so, there will be an overall deficit.

Meanwhile, the 32-hectare Gardens at Marina East will be located on the western bank of the Marina Barrage and would be an ideal venue for water sports if Singapore wins the bid for the 2010 Youth Olympics, Mr Mah said.

And the 15-hectare garden at Marina Centre could even hold the Formula 1 building, racetracks and grandstands.

Summing up the vibrancy the gardens would bring, Mr Mah said: "If you had put all apartments and offices on this land, you would've created more value. But is this what we want? Is this what Singapore is all about?"