Orchard Road's $40M Overhaul - Not Enough 'Wow' In Big Makeover?

Source : The Straits Times, Nov 1, 2007

Businesses say overhaul is superficial and lacks impact

BUSINESSES are cheered by the $40 million overhaul to Orchard Road's pavements, street furniture and lighting, but they are also asking: 'Is that it?'
Mr Noel Hawkes, general manager of the now defunct Hotel Phoenix, said that, for a makeover that had been talked about for years, what was announced sounded like 'basic maintenance work'.










IN A JAM: The plans include replacing one lane in front of Wisma Atria with a wider pedestrian walkway, but some businesses worry that this will not help Orchard Road's traffic woes. -- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM

Looking to Marina Bay, soon to be home to theatres, exhibitions and conventions, an Integrated Resort with a casino, retail centre, offices, apartments, gardens and Formula One races, he warned that Orchard Road was becoming a street of ageing hotels and malls 'in serious danger of falling behind'.

Those who spoke to The Straits Times echoed his thoughts and expressed hope that the plans are just the 'first' of more facelifts.

Mr Steven Goh of the Orchard Road Business Association (Orba) conceded that, though the $40 million budget is not something to sniff at, it will not be enough to pull off a makeover of greater impact.

Easily half the sum could be blown on the re-paving and lighting, leaving little left for features with a bigger 'wow' factor.

Examples of these include: more links between the malls and air-conditioned skybridges, a people-mover from Tanglin Mall to Plaza Singapura and closing the entire stretch to cars.

Industry players also note that the planned works do not cover the entire length of Orchard Road.

Works stop at Le Meridien, leaving the footpaths down to the Istana and Plaza Singapura untouched.

They say that nutmeg trees, flower totem planters and glass panels are all pretty to look at, but are superficial changes that fail to address major bugbears: connectivity and traffic.

Knight Frank's director of retail Danny Yeo said links between malls are needed beyond those now in the Scotts Road/Orchard Road cluster.

Malls now being built are required to have connections: Ion Orchard, for example, will have an underpass linking it to Wisma Atria and Wheelock Place. But Mr Yeo said links are also needed between other malls farther down the road, so shoppers can move from one mall to another easily.

When asked about this, the Urban Redevelopment Authority put the onus on mall owners to make private agreements. It added that cash incentives have been offered to encourage this.

But Mr Goh said: 'The reality speaks for itself. If the incentives are good enough, there would be more taking it up, right?'

Paragon's deputy general manager of marketing Patrina Tan said that, to overcome the industry's resistance and inertia, the Government still needs to take the lead. She pointed out that when Paragon proposed a link to Ngee Ann City a few years ago, it was turned down. Shoppers were the ultimate losers, she said.

The other problem is traffic congestion.

The Singapore Retailers' Association's executive director Lau Chuen Wei, referring to plans to shut down one car lane from Ion Orchard to Wisma Atria to make a wider pedestrian walkway, was unconvinced by the Land Transport Authority's assurance that it would not affect traffic flow.

'Nothing is being done to improve it either,' she said, noting that the jams were making people think twice about shopping there.

She added that unless more were to be done, the makeover plans would just be about 'pretty packaging' that did not go far enough to put Singapore's premier shopping belt on the world map.