Guri City Imun-an Lake Park to Rebirth as a Comprehensive Cultural Healing Destination in the First Half of the Year

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Eom In-yong] Guri City announced on the 23rd that it will comprehensively implement facility expansion and convenience facility installation projects at Imun-an Lake Park, a representative recreational space for citizens, and complete its transformation into a healing destination in the urban area by the first half of this year.

Imun-an Lake Park, beloved by people of all ages and backgrounds, had previously faced limitations in environmental improvements due to restrictions on park facilities and various convenience facility installations because it was not designated as a legal urban planning facility (urban park).

To address this issue and provide citizens with a more pleasant recreational space, the city implemented an urban management planning decision (amendment) process, and in April 2024 designated Imun-an Lake Park as an 'urban park (waterfront park)' and established a park development plan to accelerate facility expansion projects.

This project, centered on the waterfront space of Imun-an Lake Park, aims to create facilities with high demand for use as identified through citizen surveys, such as a waterfront stage, waterfront wooden deck, barefoot walking trail, and public restrooms, while simultaneously strengthening health, leisure, and cultural functions.

The city plans to secure external funding sources such as special fiscal transfers and special adjustment subsidies to build public restrooms and barefoot walking trails, and to install a waterfront stage to create an open cultural space where various festivals, cultural events, busking, and small-scale performances can be held.

Additionally, the city plans to create a waterfront wooden deck walking trail adjacent to the lake surface, plant water lilies and flowering plants, and provide citizens with various attractions and entertainment options.

Furthermore, in the course of implementing this project, the lake bottom in the central area has been maintained to create an environment where fish can reside stably, and aquatic plants such as cattails that had excessively proliferated were removed.

Through drainage ditch water-blocking work, a higher water level and wider water surface have been secured compared to before, allowing citizens to jointly enjoy a healthy ecosystem and natural landscape where migratory birds and aquatic organisms coexist.

Additionally, to create a park where people want to stay even at night, the city secured an additional 200 million won in special adjustment subsidies in December of last year and is planning a landscape lighting improvement project.

Through this, Imun-an Lake Park is expected to transform into a nighttime destination, increasing park visitors and generating economic revitalization effects for nearby cafes and surrounding commercial areas.

Mayor Baek Kyung-hyun stated, "Through the Imun-an Lake Park facility expansion project, we will provide citizens with a safer and more pleasant recreational space and inject new vitality into the region," and added, "By improving the quality of parks and green spaces where residents can experience nature and rest in their living areas through implementation of diverse functions, we will achieve positive changes that bring greater happiness and joy to all citizens."