COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) has planned to renovate the VOC public park at an estimated cost of Rs 50 lakh. However, the fate of the famous toy train inside the deer park hangs in the balance.
The park is one of the landmarks of the city and comprises a children’s playground, a public park and a zoological park. Though it is one of the hotspots for entertainment and recreational activities, the park was never maintained properly over the past decade by civic body officials.
As a result, the condition of the parks deteriorated. Although a few of the play equipment was replaced and repaired by officials, the zoo and public park were ignored. After a long time, the civic body has begun work to renovate the VOC park.
CCMC commissioner M Prathap said the renovation work will include installing early men and tribal people sculptures and reviving water fountains. “We beautified a part of the park recently by rearranging the sculptures of dancers and giant dinosaurs. It became an instant hit and attracted a large number of people. The sculptures have become a selfie spot.”
On the demands to revive the toy train, Prathap said that the civic body will check the feasibility to revive and run the toy train service once again.
“As the tracks of the toy train run through the deer park in the VOC Zoo which has been shut down, we need to redesign the tracks to operate it once again. Moreover, we may need to replace its engine since the toy train was launched decades ago,” Prathap said.