Ghana’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture launched a 241-acre redevelopment plan for Accra’s waterfront, the Marine Drive Accra project. The project’s brief, which dates back to the country’s 60th anniversary of independence, called for a scheme that would create an iconic skyline for Accra and transform the capital’s city center into a world-class tourism center. The Marine Drive Accra project would also help to support Ghana’s developing cultural and creative sectors.
The proposal by Adjaye Associates will be expected to feature a new waterfront promenade that re-imagines the coast as a bustling leisure and recreation area. The promenade will cover an area of the site, connecting the city’s most famous monuments and providing access to the beach.
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Three civic anchors, each of them commemorating Ghana’s rich past, will be placed across the new public infrastructure. A new centerpiece public park honoring Ghanaian independence forefathers will be located at the middle of the promenade. The Marine Drive Accra project is expected to stretch from Independence Square to the coastline, culminating in a coastal overlook with broad, dramatic scenery across the Gulf of Guinea.
The National Concert Hall, a new cultural hub and public conference center planned close to Nkrumah’s monument, would serve as the promenade’s center on the East. Similarly, the restored and refurbished Osu Castle and grounds will serve as the western terminus of the promenade.
These three anchors serve as a foundation for potential mixed-use beachside developments. Combined, they will create a unique skyline for Ghana’s capital, as well as commercial, exhibition centers, offices, a beach soccer pitch, recreational, and retail facilities targeted at leveraging the tourism sector as a transformative economic entity for the country’s and people’s benefit.
What is going on with this project? Has it stalled?