LAHORE: Chairman Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) Ghazali Saleem Butt, accompanied by Managing Director PHA Lahore Ahmed Usman Javed, visited the site of the Ship Restaurant Project on Tuesday and conducted a detailed review of ongoing construction work.
Director Engineering Ms Samavia briefed the Chairman and Managing Director on the physical and financial progress of the project, according to an official statement issued by the authority.
She informed them that canal lining work at the Ship Restaurant site has been completed, while construction work on the kitchen has also commenced. Horticultural work on the project would be initiated shortly, she added.
The sequencing described — canal lining first, then built structure, then planting — is standard for waterside developments, where the hydraulic works must be finished and stable before permanent construction and landscaping can safely proceed alongside them.
Speaking at the site, Chairman PHA Ghazali Saleem Butt said the Ship Restaurant is an important flagship project of the Government of Punjab and will be a unique project of its kind.
Managing Director PHA Lahore Ahmed Usman Javed said timely completion of the project was of utmost importance. He directed the officers concerned to ensure the quality of all materials used in construction and to complete all project components within the stipulated timeframe and in accordance with the highest quality standards.
The PHA’s mandate in Lahore has expanded over the past decade from park maintenance and roadside horticulture toward destination-style public amenities, reflecting a wider municipal push to create recreational spaces in a city where per-capita green area remains low by international benchmarks.
Themed dining and leisure venues attached to public green space serve a dual purpose for the authority: they draw footfall to sites that might otherwise be underused, and they create a revenue stream that can offset maintenance costs elsewhere in the network. The trade-off, familiar from similar projects in other cities, is that commercial development inside public land reduces the open area available at no cost to visitors.
The statement did not specify the project’s total cost, its expected completion date, or the operating model under which the restaurant will be run once construction concludes. Those details will determine how the project is judged once it opens.
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