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The reestablishment of the roundabout, which was first built in 1914, has been assigned to the municipal Department of Planning and Architecture.
The city’s administration has asked the department to complete the re-establishment plan and submit it before Jul. 15. The plan must include works to put two statues back at the roundabout.
In 2014, HCMC moved from the roundabout a statue of Quach Thi Trang, a student who died in a protest against the Saigon regime during the Vietnam War. A year later, the statue of Tran Nguyen Han, a military expert who contributed significantly in Vietnam’s fight against Chinese invasions in the 15th century, was also moved.
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Quach Thi Trang Roundabout in front of Ben Thanh Market in HCMC's District 1 in 2012. Photo by Flickr/Astacus |
In 2017, the entire roundabout was demolished for the construction of the Ben Thanh station, one of the three underground stations of HCMC’s metro line No.1.
The four-story station goes 32 meters below ground and is 236 meters long and 60 meters wide.
It will be the most important of three underground stations on the route, which will run 19.7 km from Ben Thanh Market to Suoi Tien theme park in Thu Duc City. It will also serve as an interchange with lines No. 2, 3 and 4 when they are built.
The other two underground stations of the line are the Opera House station in front of the Opera House and the Ba Son which is close to the Saigon River.
Built at a cost of VND43.7 trillion ($1.89 billion), the metro line No.1 will have 14 stations with the remaining 11 being on the surface or elevated.
The much-delayed line is more than 90 percent complete and is expected to start commercial operations late next year.
