Lumpini Park to get extreme makeover to mark 100th anniversary

[reader]

Judging by an artist's conceptions of what the futuristic changes will look like (one of which shows the since razed Dusit Thani Hotel in the background), I think this has been in the works for quite some time.

From The Nation

Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) on Monday unveiled computer-generated images of Lumpini Park as it will look after an upgrade is completed in 2024, in time for the park’s 100th anniversary in 2025.

The images published on Facebook show the new and improved 360-rai (0.57 square kilometres) park, equipped with dedicated bicycle and jogging lanes that connect with nearby Benchakitti Park. All cables and powerlines have also been buried underground to create an unobstructed view of the vast green garden in the heart of Bangkok.

Lumpini Park in Pathumwan district has been the green lung of the concrete metropolis since it opened in 1925. Paths that stretch for 2.5km around the park are popular with morning and evening joggers while ornamental lakes surrounded by lawns make perfect picnic spots. The park is open from 4.30am to 9pm and sees 15,000 to 20,000 visitors every day.

The improvement project will be divided into three phases, starting with an infrastructure upgrade, said the BMA post.

“The second phase will add more facilities and create learning areas, while the third will develop unused areas in the park.”

Facilities to be added include the six-storey high Lumpini Corridor that will serve as a new scenic point in Bangkok, seamless paths for wheelchair users, additional parking areas and water retention areas to reduce the chance of floods during rainy season.

 

[tm_nyc]

I hope that they don't eliminate the open-air weight-lifting area as part of the 'improvements'!

[reader]

I'll take the open weight-lifting area at Lumpini any day over the newest, Hermes-inspired gym opening in front of Central Word. The luxury brand best known more for pricey handbags wants to attract the well-heeled--as opposed to the necessarily well-built--to its pop-up fitness center at Central World.

Who knows? It may prove an interesting distraction but I won't go expecting to see sweaty, shirtless young men pumping iron like those just down the road a bit.

Photos courtesy of Hermès Thailand

 

[fedssocr]

looks like a skate park