Esplanade Park, Marina Bay, Singapore
Copyright © Timothy Tye.
Esplanade Park
The Esplanade Park is a historic park in Singapore's central business district. The entire park was built through successful round of land reclamation. Originally, the shoreline was much further inland, where the Singapore Cricket Club and the Singapore Recreation Club are located. There was an Esplanade Road that today is called St Andrew's Road.
Land reclamations in 1843 and 1890 extended the shoreline outward, creating land the size of the Padang (in the 19th century it was called Raffles' Plain). A new Esplanade Road was created. At that time, the area was a recreational area for the Europeans, a place for them to enjoy the seaview and take rides around the open field. Singapore Cricket Club and Singapore Recreation Club were formed in 1870 and 1885 respectively. In 1907 the New Esplanade Road was renamed Connaught Drive, on the occasion of the visit of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and his brother, King Edward VII, the year before.
In 1922, another round of land reclamation created the Esplanade Park that we see today. The Cenotaph was built on the newly created Esplanade Park while the Tan Kim Seng Fountain was moved there in 1925 from Fullerton Square. In 1953, on occasion of the Coronation celebrations, Esplanade Park was renamed after the newly crown monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. Today, however, Queen Elizabeth Walk refers to the seaside promenade within Esplanade Park, which is the park bounded by Connaught Drive, Stamford Road, Esplanade Drive and Marina Bay.
