The first water park in Ho Chi Minh City is abandoned and overgrown with weeds.

Saigon Water Park was built in 1997 with a total investment of nearly 12 million USD. In 2006, after 9 years of operation, Saigon Water Park officially closed its doors to the regret of many people. The reason for closing and ceasing operations was due to lack of visitors due to better competition from newly built entertainment complexes.

For the majority of Ho Chi Minh City residents, especially the generation born in the 1970s and 1980s, Saigon Water Park is their youth.

The place where the park used to be located today is still an empty lot located right at the corner of Go Dua canal and Saigon river in Linh Dong ward, Thu Duc city, about 10 km from the center of Ho Chi Minh city.

Saigon Water Park has an area of ​​48,500m2, facing Kha Van Can Street (Linh Dong Ward, Thu Duc City), located on Tan Son Nhat - Binh Loi route - the outer belt of the city.

Living in the Go Dua canal area for more than 40 years, Ms. Do Thi Thu Suong (52 years old) said that in the 2000s, anyone entering Ho Chi Minh City by train to Binh Trieu station when passing by this place was amazed by the grandeur of the water park.

"I see that in the past, this water park was very crowded, sometimes people had to wait for hours to buy tickets to get in. Young people in the past did not have many places to play like now, so this was considered the dream of many children during holidays or summer vacations," Ms. Suong shared.

When the park first opened, the entrance fee was 35,000 VND, and in 2006 the price was adjusted to 75,000 VND for adults and 50,000 VND for children under 1.1m tall - not a cheap amount for many people at that time.

The success of Saigon Water Park has attracted the attention of many domestic and foreign investors in the entertainment business, leading to the birth of a series of other water parks in Ho Chi Minh City such as Dam Sen, Suoi Tien, Dai The Gioi ...

Saigon Water Park used to be a high-class entertainment area, attracting a large number of people to come and enjoy many categories and water games that were very new to the public at that time: lazy river, spiral tube slide, artificial sea, black hole...

Photo: Marcel Lennartz

In the past, entertainment was not as developed as it is today, and the places where young people often went could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Therefore, the memory of Saigon Water Park is even more profound for many people.

Photo: Marcel Lennartz

On her personal Facebook, Ha Yen shared a memorable photo of her and her friends and family going to Saigon Water Park in the early 2000s.

After 17 years of inactivity, Saigon Water Park is now an abandoned land, with only overgrown grass and trees remaining.

People dump household waste along the fence of the park, causing a foul smell and filth right on the front of Pham Van Dong Street, one of the most beautiful streets in Ho Chi Minh City.

This land that used to be a park is located opposite the Binh Quoi - Thanh Da urban area project, a project that, although approved more than 30 years ago, is still "lost" in the midst of Ho Chi Minh City's development.

Now, when passing Go Dua Bridge, passersby can no longer see the silhouette of the once massive entertainment area in Ho Chi Minh City, which used to be the memory of many Ho Chi Minh City residents.

Quick view at 12:00 on July 1: Panoramic news bulletin

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/cong-vien-nuoc-doi-dau-tai-tphcm-bo-hoang-um-tum-cay-co-185230701120852376.htm