Waterboat House Garden is a small park located near the mouth of the

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, altho ...

, near the

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

(CBD) in Singapore. The park was once the original site of the former Merlion Park where the two iconic statues of the

Merlion The Merlion () is the official mascot of Singapore. It is depicted as a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish. Being of prominent symbolic nature to Singapore and Singaporeans in general, it is widely used to repre ...

and its miniature form were originally located.

History

Launch

The first Merlion Park was originally located near the mouth of the

was designed by the

Singapore Tourism Board The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of Singapore, tasked to promote the country's tourism industry. History The board was first established on 1 January 1964 and wa ...

as an emblem of Singapore in 1964. The park was officially opened at an installation ceremony for the

statue, officiated at by then Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...

on 15 September 1972. The original statues of the Merlion and its mininature used to stand at the mouth of the

with Anderson Bridge as its background. The main statue was made from November 1971 to August 1972 by the late Singaporean sculptor, Mr Lim Nang Seng. It measures 8.6 meters high and weighs 70 tons.Singapore

National Library Board The National Library Board (NLB) is a statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Communications and Information of the government of Singapore. The board manages the public libraries throughout the country. The national librari ...

: Singapore Infopedia: "Merlion Statue" <>

Relocation of the Merlion Statue

Due to the completion of the

Esplanade Bridge The Esplanade Bridge is a 261-metre-long (850 ft.) road bridge that spans across the mouth of the Singapore River in Singapore with the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay on its northern abutment and the Merlion on the southern.G. Chandradas, ...

in 1997, the statue could no longer be viewed clearly from the Marina Bay Waterfront."A new home for the Merlion". URAbr>''Skyline'' (July/August 2000)
. p. 6–8 On 23 April 2002, the Merlion statue and its mininature statue were relocated from its original location to a new pier specially built on the other side of The Esplanade Bridge adjacent to the One Fullerton hotel, which was completed on 25 April 2002. The new

Merlion Park Merlion Park ( ms, Taman Merlion, zh, 鱼尾狮公园, ta, மெர்லயன் பூங்கா) is a famous Singapore landmark and a major tourist attraction, located at One Fullerton, Singapore, near the Central Business District ( ...

, which is four times bigger than the original site, had officially been opened since then

Present

The site of former Merlion Park had since being renamed as the Waterboat House Garden, so named from the nearby historical building Waterboat House, the renovated Water House which was built in 1919.

References

{{Parks in Singapore Parks in Singapore Gardens in Singapore Places in Singapore

History

Launch

Relocation of the Merlion Statue

Present

See also

References