An aerial view of the 4.3ha site at 1 Lý Thái Tổ Street, HCM City, where a memorial park for COVID-19 victims will be built. Photo: vietnamnet.vn

HCM CITY — The city plans to complete a memorial park dedicated to COVID-19 victims before Tết (Lunar New Year) in early 2026, following the handover of land to the project sponsor by the end of this month.

The HCM City People’s Committee has directed the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to hand over the 4.3ha site at 1 Lý Thái Tổ Street to Sun Group before October 31. The company will sponsor the construction of a green park, community space, and the memorial.

The instruction came from Chairman Nguyễn Văn Được as part of the implementation of directives issued by Party Secretary Trần Lưu Quang regarding the renovation plan for the area, located in Vườn Lài Ward (formerly District 10).

The Department of Planning and Architecture has been tasked with inspecting and evaluating the villas on the site and guiding the ward authorities in making adjustments to the 1/2,000-scale zoning plan, to be completed by November 30.

The Department of Culture and Sports will collect feedback on the design proposal within 15 days and forward the results to the sponsor for finalisation. Meanwhile, the Department of Construction will directly oversee construction until completion and operation of the park and memorial, and will also prepare a city-funded project to widen Trần Bình Trọng Street.

The site, bounded by Lý Thái Tổ, Hùng Vương and Trần Bình Trọng streets and facing the historic Cộng Hòa roundabout, includes seven old villas that once belonged to the family of Hứa Bổn Hòa, known as Chú Hỏa, one of Sài Gòn’s most prominent landlords in the early 20th century. After 1975, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took over the property, but it has since been abandoned for many years. The site has now been returned to the city for redevelopment.

HCM City was where the first COVID-19 case in Việt Nam was detected on January 23, 2020. The city was hit hardest by the pandemic in 2021, enduring five months of lockdown and severe economic losses. More than 23,000 people in the city lost their lives to the disease. VNS