Part of the Thống Nhất Park where an underground car park will be built. – Photo vietnamnet.vn

HÀ NỘI (VNS) – Hà Nội will not use budget funds, but mobilised social capital to build a three-storey underground parking lot in Thống Nhất Park, an official of the municipal People’s Committee said.

The Hà Nội People’s Committee last year approved a project to build a parking lot of more than 10,000sq.m in the park in Lê Duẩn Street, Hai Bà Trưng District, which will accommodate 390 cars.

The car park will have an estimated investment capital of VNĐ100 billion (US$4.7 million), deputy head of the committee’s secretariat Lưu Quang Huy said at a press briefing yesterday.

He said only trees and flowers would be planted on the roof of the underground building and the local authorities would not permit the construction of any commercial centre on it.

The land for the parking lot has been lying unused since 1997. In 2013, the land was earmarked for a five-star hotel. However, strong public opposition led to the project being abandoned.

In 2014, the Hà Nội Parking One Member Co. Ltd asked the city authority for permission to use the land for a parking lot. It proposed to plant grass and trees on the roof of the underground building.

The project met severe public opposition last year, as it was said the project would eat into the city’s green space. However, the city authority decided to approve the project after considering the opinions of experts, government agencies and residents.

Huy said the city had entrusted the Hà Nội Urban Planning Institute to prepare a master plan for the park’s upgrade to meet the local residents’ demand for entertainment space. The construction of the underground parking lot was part of the master plan to help deal with the shortage of parking lots in the capital city, he said. 

The detailed master plan is being finalised and will be submitted to the municipal People’s Committee for approval. — VNS