Esplanade
The waterfront Esplanade features historical landmarks, such as the Cenotaph war memorial and Fort Cornwallis, scenic promenades and access to several museums of art and culture. Architectural gems include Penang City Hall, which combines Edwardian Baroque and Palladian styles. Cafes, restaurants and bars dot the area, and there’s a handful of hotels. The ferry port offers trips to Butterworth and Langkawi Island.
GEORGE TOWN: The RM12.9mil Esplanade upgrade, which took six years to complete, is set to wow locals and foreigners alike with its sweeping vista of the Penang seafront.
Stretching 460m from the Medan Renong food court to the Royal Malaysian Naval Base, wider walkways now welcome more visitors while its terraced seawall near the Cenotaph Memorial allows people to get closer to the sea overlooking the northern coast.
Two stairways allow direct access to the large boulders of the sloping revetment that are exposed during low tide.
Project architect Teng Pe Yang said various factors were taken into consideration, with the design and construction materials meant to complement the significance of George Town as a World Unesco Heritage Site.
“Most of the granite used for the revetment was quarried locally, including from Melaka.
“However, the granite for the gravity wall stretch was sourced from China, while the handrail fittings, made of cast iron, are from the United Kingdom.
“The handrail fittings are based on the Kee Klamp handrail system developed in the 1930s in England.
“They retain design traces of the historical cast iron handrail fittings that were prevalent here at the Esplanade and throughout George Town during the colonial period,” he said during the project’s official opening yesterday.
Teng said other features in the design, such as incorporating a trench which would take in water from outside the seawall during high tide, allows for a taller and larger extent of the original seawall to be seen and appreciated.
To commemorate some historical elements of the original Esplanade, Teng, who is a landscape architect, said eight “memory tiles” containing excerpts of letters and reports written by colonial officers about 200 years ago, including Sir Stamford Raffles, would be placed in holes on the curbs.
They can be found at the terraced section dubbed the Esplanade Sea Wall Heritage Trail.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the project would provide better public facilities to the people while providing improved protection against erosion caused by strong waves.
He said the project was supported by the George Town Conservation and Development Corporation, a partnership between Penang and Think City.
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