Riverside road rerouted to preserve Vo Ha Thanh French-style villa

(ĐN) - The Dong Nai provincial People’s Committee has issued Decision No. 2452/QĐ-UBND approving adjustments to the 1/2,000 sub-zone planning for the Buu Long tourism and residential area, formerly in Buu Long ward, now in Tran Bien ward.

The provincial People's Committee approves adjustments to zoning plan in order to reroute riverside road along Dong Nai river, aiming to preserve Vo Ha Thanh villa.

Under this adjustment, more than 2,900 square meters of land originally zoned as public green space will be converted to transportation use. Additionally, around 438 square meters of planned road area and 311 square meters of riverfront resort land will be rezoned for heritage and religious purposes.

The approval of the partial adjustment to the zoning plan aims to implement a proposal to reroute the riverside road along Dong Nai river in the section passing by the Vo Ha Thanh ancient villa (also known as the 'Mr. Phu’s Mansion').

The Dong Nai riverside road is approximately 5.2 kilometers long. According to the original plan, the construction of the road would require the demolition of about 9 meters of the Vo Ha Thanh ancient villa, meaning nearly half of the structure would fall within the project’s development area. The plan drew concern from historians and experts who advocated preserving the site due to its cultural, historical, and architectural value.

Following these recommendations, the provincial People’s Committee tasked the Department of Construction with evaluating preservation strategies. Among four proposed scenarios, the preferred option was to adjust the road alignment to bypass the villa, an approach the province has now approved for implementation.

To implement the plan to reroute Dong Nai riverside road and preserve the Vo Ha Thanh ancient villa, it is necessary to amend the sub-zone planning for the former Buu Long ward, now Tran Bien ward, and revise the project documents accordingly.

The Vo Ha Thanh ancient villa was built in 1922 and completed in 1924. It has two floors, featuring a stone foundation, reinforced concrete structure, and tiled roof. According to assessments, the villa showcases French architectural style, with materials imported from France in the early 20th century. This is a privately owned French-style heritage villa, constructed using French-imported materials.

Reported by P. Tung