HCM CITY — The 88-year-old Bình Tây Market in HCM City’s District 6 will be restored later this year.

Ngô Thành Luông, chairman of the district’s People’s Committee, said the district was waiting for approval of the project plans from the city’s People’s Committee.

“We hope the restoration can begin later next month,” Luông said at a recent conference that discussed the project with district authorities and the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Department of Construction.

The tile roof, stairs, walls and floors of the market would be renovated based on the original designs. A new basement and flower garden will be built in the middle of the market.

The district has asked the District 6 Board of Construction Project and Investment Management to carry out the restoration.

The funds for the project will be drawn from the district’s budget and private sources of capital.

According to the board, a temporary market was built near Bình Tây Market. About 1,077 sellers at Bình Tây Market agreed to move out during the restoration and will return when the work is completed.

Luông said the move would be completed by November 15.

He was concerned that the project would not begin on schedule because the city had yet to approve it.

However, Nguyễn Văn Minh, deputy director of the city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the department had urged the People’s Committee to approve soon.

The project is expected to take one year to complete.

Bình Tây Market was built in 1928 by a Chinese businessman named Guoyan (also known as Quách Đàm), who hired a French architect to design the building, which has traditional Chinese architecture.

Located in Chinatown, it is one of the biggest wholesale markets in HCM City, offering a wide range of goods. It was renovated in 1991 and 2006. — VNS