Jurong Lake Will Be Transformed Into Waterfront Playground

Source : The Business Times, April 5, 2008

4-5 new attractions planned; Science Ctr site to be developed

THE area around Jurong Lake has been earmarked as a waterfront playground lined with four or five new attractions.

As part of the revamp, the Singapore Science Centre will also be relocated next to Chinese Garden MRT Station and its present site carved into a third island within Jurong Lake and developed into Lakeside Village.

The village, surrounded by a new waterway, will offer alternative shopping and dining, with food & beverage, retail and entertainment outlets and boutique hotels on the lakeside. It will be connected to the new commercial hub at Jurong Gateway through a network of walkways.

The existing Chinese and Japanese gardens - which occupy the two existing islands in the lake - will have added new facilities and activities to boost their attraction.

The plans were revealed in the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) draft Master Plan for the area, released yesterday. The plan will guide development over the next 10-15 years.

The four or five new attractions will cater to families with young children. They could include edutainment that rides on proximity to the new Science Centre, nature-based activities that leverage on the lake, as well as attractions with hotels, F&B and shopping.

URA said the new attractions will complement those Jurong already has, such as Jurong Bird Park, the Science Centre and Singapore Discovery Centre.

‘The attractions at Jurong Lake will be differentiated from others at Marina Bay, Southern Waterfront and Mandai,’ URA said.

URA will work with the Singapore Tourism Board to encourage investors to develop the attractions, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said yesterday.

A new public park will be developed on the western edge of Jurong Lake next to Lakeside MRT Station. Water activities like kayaking and dragon-boating will be introduced on the lake by end-2008. And boardwalks, fishing points and wetlands will be introduced along selected stretches by end-2009.

URA chief executive Cheong Koon Hean said URA may include its plans for Jurong Lake District in its overseas marketing efforts.

The authority’s draft Master Plan for the district - comprising the Lakeside precinct as well as the area around Jurong East MRT Station, dubbed Jurong Gateway - has drawn kudos from industry players.

Park Hotel Group director Allen Law said a business hotel could work in the Jurong Lake District. ‘A tourist hotel will depend on the phasing of the new attractions,’ he added.

Nature Society president Geh Min said: ‘I am happy to hear the mention of wetlands. I don’t think there will be an issue with the loss of natural environment.’

UOL Group chief operating officer Liam Wee Sin said of URA’s plans for the district: ‘I’m quite impressed. There’s a big opportunity to do an eco-city, not just sky gardens and terraces - but with conscious planning, policy, design and usage.’

DP Architects’ Tai Lee Siang reckons the Jurong Lake District will have an edge over Tampines Regional Centre because it has the lake as a natural asset.

Colliers International said URA’s blueprint for the district will boost the popularity and value of property there in the mid to long term.

‘It’s exciting because it will inject a new lease of life to an area that has struggled for many years to shrug off its image as an industrial location,’ said Colliers’ director Tay Huey Ying.