New recreation park to be opened soon

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.