Kaohsiung to open Taiwan's first repurposed golf course park

Kaohsiung, Oct. 9 (CNA) A new nature park remodeled from an 18-hole golf course will officially open its doors in Kaohsiung on Friday, according to city's Public Works Bureau.

The park covers 70 hectares repurposed from Kaohsiung Golf Club, more commonly known as Cheng Ching Lake Golf Club as it is located next to the scenic body of water, the bureau said in a press release on Thursday.

Including the surrounding scenic attractions connected to the lake, the park will be the largest green area in Kaohsiung, the bureau said.

As the first park in Taiwan to be based on a former golf course, the park has been redesigned with a walking path that spans over 7.2 kilometers connecting grasslands with forests and bodies of water, bureau director Yang Chin-fu (楊欽富) explained.

Other remodeling work done inside the park included redesigning and repurposing the areas around each of the 18 holes on the old golf course.

For example, the bureau said it converted the tee box of the old 18th hole into a viewing platform for visitors to enjoy the scenery.

In addition, the park also preserves a total of 2,658 plants, including orange jessamine flowers and Chinese banyan trees that have been entered into a database so the park administration can better manage the health of flora.

With the theme of nature conservation and repurposing, several fallen trees from the old golf course have also been transformed into seats scattered around the new park.

The bureau noted that it has also completed various projects to make the new park more accessible, for example by repaving roads on the western bank of Cheng Ching Lake, the round-lake pathway and also reconnecting a pedestrian walkway at the rear of the lake.

The bureau also recently completed renovation of infrastructures such as a parking lot on Kaohsiung's Bade South Road, adding that a few infrastructure projects are still ongoing and will complete the new public attraction.

As the park is connected to Cheng Ching Lake, the bureau said it will adhere to the same regulations as the renowned Kaohsiung scenic zone, such as forbidding the entrance of pets and the use of fireworks, while banning activities like camping and climbing.

Cycling, skateboarding and rollerblading are also prohibited in the park for reasons of public safety.