Sharjah to unveil musical fountain in November
Sharjah is all set to unveil its new tourist attraction before year-end. The 220-metre wide musical fountain, part of the Dh100-million Al Majaz Waterfront Development, will be officially opened in November.
Even the landmark, Sharjah Fountain, closed a few years back for renovation, will come alive then, shooting water 100 metres high into the air.
In an interview with Emirates 24/7, Marwan Jassim Al Sarkal, Shurooq, Chief Executive Officer, Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) said: “Al Majaz is one of the most important projects being developed by us. The musical fountain, which is 220 metres wide, is an important component of the project and will have 20 different musical and laser shows, with five video projections on water screens, every day.”
Dubai already has the Dubai Fountain in Burj Khalifa Lake, which is 275 metres long and shoots water 150 metres into the air, accompanied by a range of classical to contemporary Arabic and world music. But the Sharjah Fountain is not intended to rival that of Dubai. The project, located on the Khalid Lagoon, is being considered as a catalyst to draw tourists and residents to the emirate.
Asked for the reason for having a musical fountain, Al Sarkal said: “It came into consideration when we started discussing ideas of what we should develop in Al Majaz… what would be a major pull factor for the emirate? Then we came up with the idea of adding this fountain which will really uplift the tourism components of the emirate.”
He emphasized: “We want to make sure that when a family comes to Sharjah they have more than one area to visit.”
About 60 per cent of the project work is completed. A soft opening is being planned for October with the official opening taking place in November.
According to Al Sarkal, 4,700 square metres has been allocated for the construction of eight new restaurants and cafés which will face the musical fountain. “We are not looking at fine dining, but causual dining."
Al Majaz Waterfront will also be the first project in the UAE to have special joy rides for disabled people. “We have agreed with a French company to get rides for disabled people. We want to make sure that they are part of what we are developing here,” Al Sarkal said.
New identity for Heart of Sharjah
Shurooq will be launching a new identity for the Heart of Sharjah project and has even appointed a leasing consultant to undertake a study of the retail opportunities in and around the project.
“We will be launching year-end an identity for the Heart of Sharjah. We have appointed consultants to undertake leasing and traffic impact study so we can appropriately plan the project." Al Sarkal added that the 5-star hotel with 60 rooms will be the major component of the project and work is likely to start in the first quarter of 2012.
“We are finalizing an international operator to for management of the hotel. Although we expect construction to start by first quarter of 2012, it may take time since one portion of the hotel will be using the old houses and other portion will be new construction,” he added.