Le Nhu Chinh, director of Hue City Green Park Center on May 13, told VietNamNet that after taking over the area management, the agency planned to dismantle the huge dragon statue.

Before a final plan is set, the center has mobilized all its workers to prune, clear bushes, and pull weeds in the area. Some items of the statue which may cause danger to visitors, such as electric wire, iron frame and broken glass roof, at the dragon-shaped aquarium have been removed.

The Thuy Tien Lake entertainment area, 5,000 sqm, was initially developed by Co Do Tourism with capital of VND70 billion, kicked off in 2000. However, because of its financial problems and poor performance, the work could not attract visitors. In 2008, the project was transferred to HACO Hue Co.

After taking over the project, HACO Hue spent VND270 billion to continue to build the tourism center and complete all items to put the project into operation. However, the business has remained unsatisfactory over many years and many items of the work have been covered in moss and withered grass.

In 2016, the abandoned work appeared on Huffington Post as a destination for travelers who love adventure tourism and discovery. The article was titled ‘This abandoned waterpark in Vietnam is not for the faint of heart’. Since then, Thuy Tien Lake Park has become known as a mysterious tourism site.

Later, as the project implementation has stopped, the Thua Thien - Hue People’s Committee decided to take back the land and put the assets on the land into auction. The Hue City authorities were requested to develop an ecological park to serve the community on the land.

According to Da Nang-based Dai Nguyen Nam Trade and Service, which won the auction for assets on the land, the locality did not have demand to retain the work so the auction winner had to dismantle the statue to recover its assets.

The assets on the land that the company has bought and is going to dismantle include the gate area and parking lot, lakeside walkway and two arch bridges, main gate, central square, aquarium (the building in the shape of a giant dragon), garden, embankment, outdoor performance area, games on lake, electricity system, and artworks of HACO Hue Co Ltd.

While the local authorities are determined to destroy the giant dragon statue, local people do not want this. Many residents and tourists expressed regret and hoped the government would keep the amusement park for sightseeing and tourism.

Hong Khanh