Previously, Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Tran Luu Quang directed to collect opinions on the idea of the COVID-19 victims Memorial at the land plot No. 1 Ly Thai To Street (Vuon Lai Ward).
From November 1 to November 15, 2025, the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City invites people nationwide to participate in contributing opinions on the ideas, content and expressed forms of the project.
People can send their comments via email contest sv@thttphcm.gov.vn, or send them directly, via post to the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City (164 Dong Khoi, Saigon Ward).
The Department of Culture and Sports said that the project will convey three main messages:
From loss to rapid revival: Recording a special historical period when Ho Chi Minh City suffered heavy losses due to the pandemic, but quickly rose strongly. The city's GRDP growth rate will reach 9.03% in 2022, 5.81% in 2023 and 7.17% in 2024 - a testament to its strong vitality and spectacular resilience.
An act of gratitude for the spirit of solidarity and joint efforts: The symbol shows deep gratitude to people across the country, especially the medical and armed forces and people of all walks of life who have contributed and shared in the work of preventing epidemics as well as recovering the socio-economy.
A reminder for the future: The project not only has the meaning of gratitude but also a historical lesson, reminding future generations to always be proactive and vigilant against non-traditional security challenges, not subjective in disease prevention and response.
Previously, implementing the direction of City Party Secretary Tran Luu Quang, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc assigned the Department of Agriculture and Environment to hand over land plot No. 1 Ly Thai To (area of over 4.4 hectares) to the sponsoring unit to deploy a green park, community living space and the COVID-19 victims Memorial. The project is expected to be completed before the Lunar New Year 2026.
The Department of Planning and Architecture is assigned to review and inventory the current status of 7 villas in the land, and at the same time guide Vuon Lai ward to locally adjust the 1/2,000 scale zoning plan, to be completed before November 30, 2025.
After synthesizing the opinions of the people, the Department of Culture and Sports will send them back to the sponsor to complete the design plan.
The land plot No. 1 Ly Thai To has an area of about 44,312 m2, of which the usable floor area is more than 7,100 m2, currently managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Previously, this place was the Government Guest House, but has been vacant for many years.
Along with the park and memorial project, the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee also assigned the Department of Construction to establish an investment project to expand Tran Binh Trong Street (from Ly Thai To to Hung Vuong) using the City budget.
The route is about 370 m long, currently only 5 m wide on average and is not connected smoothly with Ly Thai To Street, causing limitations in traffic and urban space development
The project will widen the road surface to 17 m, with a total estimated investment of about 1,073 billion VND, of which the cost of compensation, site clearance is more than 830 billion VND and the construction cost is more than 40 billion VND. The project plans to relocate 115 households and 1 organization.
