Province seeks investors to revive ‘eerie’ abandoned water park in central Vietnam

After having been abandoned for many years, a water park in the north-central Vietnamese province of Thua Thien – Hue may be up for reopening in the near future as provincial authorities are seeking investors to revive the project.

On Friday, Nguyen Dinh Bach, deputy chief of the Office of Thua Thien – Hue Province People’s Committee, laid out the plan for the revival of the abandoned Ho Thuy Tien Park located in Thien An Hill in Hue, the provincial capital city.

According to the official, the provincial administration has ordered its finance department to set up a panel for property valuation and prepare necessary procedures to attract investment into the deserted park.

According to Bach, there are some investors who are interested in the attraction, which has been abandoned for years.

The project’s former developer, Haco Hue Ltd., is heavily indebted to two banks, with debt obligations surpassing its capacity to pay, the official said.

The property is currently managed by the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

This proves to be an obstacle in attracting new investors, as the province must re-appraise the property and make plans to call on potential investors to clear the debts.

Previously, Thua Thien – Hue chairman Phan Ngoc Tho had required that competent authorities study building a road connecting local residential areas to the park.

Tho also had the provincial construction department in charge of leading a plan and collaborate with the provincial Institute for Development Studies and Huong Thuy Commune People’s Committee to adjust the detailed planning of Ho Thuy Tien Park.

They are tasked with coming up with a solution to retain water inside the park’s namesake lake for landscape beautification when it reopens.

Despite having been abandoned since 2011, the neglected old park continues to draw attention from a few tourists who like to adventure.

Huffington Post’s Suzy Strutner wrote an article about Ho Thuy Tien Park in January 2016, describing it as “eerie,” “surreal,” and “not for the faint of heart”.

The article quoted some foreign travelers who had paid a visit to the deserted water park in central Vietnam.

“Here, live crocodiles have mingled among abandoned waterslides, half-full aquarium tanks and a massive dragon structure whose interior looks vaguely like the set of a horror film,” Strutner wrote.

Tuoi Tre News – May 16, 2020