An artistic rendering of how the Lý Thái Tổ flower garden will look after renovation.— Photo from Hà Nội People's Committee

HÀ NỘI — The Hoàn Kiếm District authorities have affirmed that valuable, ancient trees will not be removed and the Km0 milestone will be adjusted when renovating the Lý Thái Tổ flower garden, next to Hoàn Kiếm Lake in the heart of the city.

The official declaration was in response to concern over plans to renovate the flower garden in Tràng Tiền Ward, where the statue of the Lý Dynasty ruler, who first chose the city as the capital of Việt Nam more than 1,000 years ago, is located.

Hoàn Kiếm District said that in the Lý Thái Tổ flower garden, there are about one hundred trees, including 20 species such as sưa (Dalbergia tonkinensis Prain), vàng anh (Sacara), thàn mát (Milletia ichthyochtona Drake), bằng lăng (Lagerstroemia speciosa), giáng hương (Pterocarpus macrocarpus Kurz), lộc vừng (Barringtonia acutangula) and hoàng yến (Cassia fistula Linn).

When renovating the flower garden, valuable trees, perennial trees and ancient trees will not be affected, said the authority. Only small, low-value and sick ones will be replaced and moved.

The proposed plan is to move 25 trees, of which 16 will be relocated within the flower garden and nine diseased ones will be replaced.

The district will plant 30 additional trees of species more suited to the Hà Nội climate.

After completing the renovation, the total number of shade trees in the flower garden will be 114, an increase of 14 compared to before the renovation.

In addition, the flower garden area behind the statue of King Lý Thái Tổ and the Octagonal House, connecting to the State Bank Square, will be improved with landscape and walkways.

It will be also installed with underground water sprinkler systems for use during holidays, improving the climate of the area.

The Km0 milestone is located in the centre of the area, in front of the King Lý Thái Tổ statue, near Đinh Tiên Hoàng Street.

The milestone was selected from a design competition organised by the Việt Nam Association of Architects in 2020 and is being adjusted to suit current technical conditions.

The Hoàn Kiếm District said that the plan to beautify the Lý Thái Tổ flower garden had completed the community consultation on February 25.

The renovation is scheduled to start in April and be completed in October.

The district added that after more than 20 years of use, the flower garden has seen serious degradations. Some types of trees are not suitable, the lawns, flower beds and walking paths are damaged, and the garden needs to be renovated to suit the status of Hoàn Kiếm Lake special national relic.

The Lý Thái Tổ flower garden is over 10,000sq.m wide, bordered by Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Lê Thạch, Lê Lai and Ngô Quyền streets.

The flower garden plays an important role in connecting Hoàn Kiếm Lake with surrounding areas such as the Diên Hồng flower garden, the State Bank square, the Hà Nội People's Council and People's Committee.

Total preliminary investment of the work is about VNĐ182 billion (US$7 million) funded from the Hoàn Kiếm District budget. — VNS