The Mitsukoshi Garden aquatic centre

The Mitsukoshi Garden was an aquatic centre located next to the Jurong drive-in cinema along Japanese Garden Road. Built at a cost of $10 million, the centre was a joint venture between the Japanese company Mitsukoshi and Singaporean firm Jurong Water Sports Complex. Officially opened in April 1979, Mitsukoshi Garden was the second recreational water sports complex to operate in Singapore after the Big Splash aquatic centre at East Coast Park. The Garden had facilities such as an Olympic-sized swimming pool, smaller wave, flow, slider, scuba and children’s pools, four tennis courts, a putting green, restaurants, bars, function rooms and a shopping arcade. The Garden was a popular venue for family picnics organised by community centres and other grassroots organisations. In June 1983, the Garden was sold to West Overseas, a Japanese firm which owned a restaurant chain in Kyushu. Following renovation works to add new facilities such as a gymnasium and more food outlets, the aquatic centre was reopened as the C N West Leisure Park later that year.