New recreation park to be opened soon

By Devi M. Asmarani

JAKARTA (JP): A new recreation center which combines entertainment, leisure, and retailing is set to transform one of the city's modest public parks into a highly commercial venue.

The construction of the park formerly known as Taman Ria Remaja, near TVRI in Central Jakarta, is 60 percent complete and on schedule for opening in August, Ira Monika Irayati, the public relations executive of developer PT Ariobimo Laguna Perkasa, told The Jakarta Post recently.

Unlike Taman Ria Remaja, however, the new park will cater to people from the middle and upper end of the economic spectrum. And changes in the park's image are not only in appearance, they are also in name.

"We wanted to remove the previous raunchy image of Taman Ria Remaja as a rendezvous for couples by changing its name to Taman Ria Senayan," Ira said.

Remaja means youngsters: At the old park, evening visitors had to tread carefully to avoid stepping on couples scattered around the many park's cozy corners.

But to accommodate three luxurious buildings for upscale restaurants and pubs, the hills at the east end of the park where children used to run up and down have been flattened.

The new park will charge an entrance fee of Rp 5,000 during a six-month promotional period, Ira said. She added the charge would not include food and other entertainment activities.

The 11-hectare site, located on the corner of Jl. Gatot Subroto and Jl. Gerbang Pemuda, is owned by the Ria Pembangunan Foundation, run by the wives of Armed Forces members.

In 1970, the foundation entrusted the park's management to the city administration, which then appointed a developer partially owned by the city, PT Pembangunan Jaya, to oversee it.

Twenty five years later the park had pretty much been abandoned in favor of shopping malls and other modern recreation centers.

In 1995, PT Ariobimo Perkasa, a subsidiary of the Humpuss group controlled by President Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo Mandala Putra, agreed to rent and manage the land for 20 years.

The park, whose concept and operational planning were designed by theme-park specialists ITEC and Baker Leisure Group from the United States, combines the concepts of American theme parks with local cultural color.

The country's mighty volcanoes serve as inspiration for the Family Entertainment Center in the middle of the lake, which houses a magic-theme restaurant.

The new site will also feature various other facilities such as shopping and dining areas, rides, fishing piers, a themed miniature golf course as well as a video games arcade.

Ira claims the combined leisure, entertainment and retail park is the first of its kind in the country.

She cited the park's main commercial area, Laguna Ria, where a 12,000-square meter-space is being allocated for various outlets, from gift shops to Indonesian craft stalls and a food center.

Various musical and entertainment programs will be staged on one of the building's verandahs overlooking a six-hectare manmade lake.

Using natural preservation as its main appeal to visitors, the attractions have been built around existing trees.

"Only 30,000 square meters of the land will be built on," Ira said.

Heeding calls from Deputy Governor for Economic and Development Affairs, Tb. M. Rais, who said the area must remain a water catchment zone, activities in the park center around the lake, which takes up more than half of the land.

"The lakeside resembles Sydney's Darling Harbor, and Singapore's Clark Key, which are famous for being retail and entertainment areas," Ira said.

A laser show at the lake will be a nightly feature. Visitors can also enjoy trips around the lake on gondolas.

Contrary to assumptions that Taman Ria Senayan will be an amusement park, Ira says the rides area will constitute a very small percentage of the park.

"This is definitely not an amusement park," she said, adding there would only be six rides.

Nevertheless the designers claim the rides area "will be second to none in the entire Southeast Asian region." Rides will include a roller coaster aptly called 'Treeak', or 'Screeam'.

Catering to people of all ages from morning to late at night, the park expects to attract more than two million visitors a year.

So far there are only two parking lots. Another is planned for the grounds of the Gelora Senayan Stadium which the management claims will accommodate 3,500 cars.

Ira said the rest of the cars would be temporarily parked in the parking lot at the People's Consultative Assembly building adjacent to the park.

No problems have been encountered so far -- the Assembly has been very supportive of the project, Ira said.

The company invested between Rp 80 billion (US$33.4 million) and Rp 90 billion in the project. Ira said it expected to break even in eight years.

Meanwhile, the Pulau Dua Restaurant on another island in the park will remain, as it still has a contract with the owner, Ria Pembangunan.