New attractions for nature-lovers

An outdoor food centre, a plant shop and walks with valley effect and running stream will add to draw of the gardens

By Neo Hui Min

FOOD- and nature-lovers alike

will have something to enjoy at the Singapore Botanic Gardens when new attractions, part of a $35-million redevelopment, are completed.

An outdoor food centre with about half a dozen stalls will be set up by 2004, bringing the number of food outlets at the park to five. At present, there are the Au Jardin Les Amis and Halia restaurants, Cafe Les Amis and the Java Coast takeaway stand.

Dr Chin See Chung, director of the gardens, explained that the new centre was a way of catering to people who had been asking for more dining choices in the gardens' lush setting.

'Visitors used to ask us where they could get drinks. So we put in vending machines. When we brought in a cafe later, it proved to be very popular,' he said.

There had also been demand for stalls selling more affordable food, he added. The food centre will sell local favourites as well as sandwiches and coffee.

There will also be a shop where visitors can buy plants grown in the gardens.

Those who fancy a stroll can look forward to two new walks: the Valley Walk, a scenic route that creates a valley effect using plants and the natural gradient of the area; and the Arboratum Walk, which features trees in their natural surroundings, complete with a running stream.

These additions are part of a strategy to keep the 143-year-old gardens viable and prominent.

Said Dr Chin See Chung, director of the gardens: 'We are constantly reinventing ourselves to stay relevant.'

The new attractions will also help to keep the visitors coming, he added. The gardens now draw about 2 million people every year.

Moreover, the rental from the commercial outlets will offset some of the gardens' operating costs, which run to about $3.5 million every year, he said.

A quarter of this sum comes from admission fees to the National Orchid Garden and from the rent collected.

Asked if having more commercial tenants in the gardens will compromise the atmosphere, Dr Chin said this was unlikely.

'The guiding principle is to maintain the ambience of the gardens. We will not introduce any commercial activities just for the sake of making money,' he said.

Park visitors welcomed the additions, though some were worried about overcrowding.

Accounts assistant Cynthia Lee, 35, said: 'It would be nice to have a place where there are food and drinks at affordable prices, but I just hope it won't get too crowded.'

Engineer David Teo, 29, did not think the gardens would be overwhelmed by the new developments. 'The gardens are so huge, I'm sure I can still find a quiet spot for myself,' he said.