Shishu Park to open next year

Dhaka’s Shaheed Zia Shishu Park is expected to reopen by June next year after remaining closed for nearly eight years, according to Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Md Abdus Salam.

Salam announced the projected reopening at the inauguration of Pubali Bank PLC’s Shishu Park Branch at the park’s project site in Shahbagh. The branch building on the premises has been reconstructed as part of the modernisation project.

Physical progress has reached 30 percent, Salam said. An international tender has been invited to procure 15 modern rides for children, which account for nearly 75 percent of the overall project.

Established in 1979, the public amusement facility has long drawn visitors on weekends and holidays. Urban planner and Jahangirnagar University professor Adil Mohammed Khan said the prolonged closure had deprived an entire generation of children of outdoor entertainment important to their mental and physical development.