Key takeaway
Bottle Tree Park, once a beloved rustic gathering place in Yishun, was more than just a park. When it closed and became Orto and then finally shuttered in mid‑2023, what was lost was a rare slice of kampung charm, a multi‑generational community space, and a hands‑on nature hub. Its closure marked the end of a social anchor, not just a physical landmark.
On a quiet corner of Lorong Chencharu in Yishun, there once stood Bottle Tree Park, a simple, open‑air spot where families fished, kids splashed in ponds, and friends gathered over prawns.
The story behind Bottle Tree Park
The original Bottle Tree Park opened around 2006, sprawling over roughly 7 hectares in Yishun. Built on state land, it quickly became a local favorite for its rustic charm and informal, kampung-like ambiance. Visitors were drawn to the oddly shaped bottle trees, winding paths, and prawning ponds where families could fish for fun. Small seafood restaurants and snack stalls added to the park’s casual, friendly atmosphere. Many residents treated it as a weekend retreat, a place to relax, meet friends, and enjoy simple outdoor activities without leaving the neighborhood.
By 2014, Bottle Tree Park had become a well-established recreational spot, but the lease for the land was up for renewal. A Chinese firm, Fullshare Group, won the lease, outbidding the existing operator by more than double. They planned to maintain the park’s signature features, the wooden pavilions, the bottle trees, and the ponds, while making it more comfortable and accessible. Improvements included better walkways, upgraded dining areas, and enhanced facilities for families and groups, ensuring that the park retained its community focus even under new management.
During this transition, the park remained a hub for both longtime patrons and new visitors curious about its updated offerings. Its mix of natural beauty, recreational facilities, and casual dining made Bottle Tree Park a unique space that bridged the traditional kampung feel with more modern leisure experiences in Singapore.
From Bottle Tree Park to Orto: a gentle transformation
By June 2015, Bottle Tree Park had officially rebranded as Orto. “Orto” means garden in Italian, a fitting name for its mix of greenery and leisure. The new operator pumped in about S$8 million to upgrade the site.
Under Orto, the space came alive with family activities: prawning, fishing, longkang fishing, even paintball, and a trampoline park. Restaurants thrived. There was a live turtle and tortoise museum. It stayed open 24 hours, a rare feature for a green space in Singapore.
A hub for the community
Orto was more than a leisure park. Nearby, the non-profit Ground-Up Initiative (GUI) ran a “Kampung Kampus,” a 26,000 sq m community learning campus. Here, people learned about urban farming, heritage building, design thinking, and sustainability. There were farming plots, a padi field, an amphitheater, and more.
The park was also part of Yishun’s network of outdoor recreational areas, connecting with larger pathways similar to the 24-km green corridor that stretches across Singapore, giving residents access to both leisure and nature trails.
Why the closure of the Bottle Tree Park matters: What the community lost
When Orto closed on 30 June 2023, it was more than a business shutting down. Locals expressed sadness, especially regulars who said goodbye in the final days.
Here is what was lost when the park closed:
- A natural gathering point. Families recalled weekends of prawning, friends chatted under trees, and children waded in ponds. That open, green space is gone.
- A communal identity. The park acted like a kampung village in a modern city; it was a place for bonding across generations.
- Sustainable education. GUI’s Kampung Kampus offered hands‑on learning about farming and heritage. Losing that means fewer local opportunities for green education.
- Affordable recreation. Orto was relatively accessible, with casual F&B, fishing, and low-barrier activities. Many said there was nothing quite like it elsewhere, similar to what draws visitors to Singapore’s largest hawker centre for casual dining experiences.
Why did the Bottle Tree Park have to close?
The closure of Bottle Tree Park / Orto was not sudden — it had been planned as part of Singapore’s long-term urban development strategy. The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) informed both Orto and the Ground-Up Initiative (GUI) that their tenancies would end by mid‑2023. While the park had been a cherished green and social space, the land it occupied was designated for residential redevelopment, reflecting the city’s need to balance open space with housing demands.
By 2024–2025, detailed plans for the site began to emerge. The Housing & Development Board (HDB) announced a mixed-use development called Chencharu Close, which is designed to integrate housing, community amenities, a hawker centre, and a bus interchange. The larger Chencharu precinct is projected to provide up to 10,000 new homes, aiming to meet the growing residential demand in Yishun. While these developments promise modern facilities and convenience, the closure of Bottle Tree Park marked the loss of a unique outdoor venue that blended recreation, nature, and community engagement in a way few other spaces in Yishun could offer.
Residents and park regulars have expressed a sense of nostalgia, noting that while the new precinct may provide housing and services, it cannot replicate the informal charm, natural setting, and multi-generational community interactions that Bottle Tree Park fostered over nearly two decades.
Did the replacement make up for the loss?
From a purely planning perspective, the redevelopment makes sense. Singapore needs housing, and the Chencharu site is strategic. But from a human perspective, the transition feels hollow to many.
- New homes, yes, but what about green space? While the new precinct promises community facilities, nothing yet matches Orto’s open‑air sense of freedom and natural retreat.
- Where do the old tenants go? Of the 16 businesses at Orto, only a few relocated. Many said they could not find a similar home for their operations.
- Sustainability education in flux. GUI and the turtle museum will have to find new places to continue their mission. Their relocation is not guaranteed, and rebuilding the same kind of community learning campus takes time.
A quick look: Key sites in Yishun
| Place | Why it mattered | Nearest MRT | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bottle Tree Park / Orto (former) | Popular recreation spot, prawning, fishing, turtle museum, community campus | Khatib / Yishun MRT | Source |
| Kampung Kampus (GUI) | Sustainability learning hub, urban farming, crafts | Khatib / Yishun MRT | Source |
| Chencharu Precinct (future) | New housing estate with ~10,000 homes, hawker centre, bus interchange | Khatib / Yishun MRT | Source |
Why Yishun really lost a piece of itself
The closure of Bottle Tree Park / Orto is more than a simple land‑use shift. Bottle Tree Park was a rare green haven in Yishun where families could spend weekends fishing, children could explore ponds and gardens, and neighbors could meet without barriers. Its closure represents a profound change in how communities gather. For long-time visitors, the park was one of the last truly open, natural, and affordable social hubs in the area. The shuttering also reflected broader shifts in land-use and planning, as the SLA prepared the site for future housing and precinct developments.
A quieter Yishun, in more ways than one
As the hammer falls on the last pavilion of Bottle Tree Park, what Yishun lost was not just a physical venue. It lost a heartbeat, a communal pulse that carried through children casting lines in ponds, elders sharing stories under the shade of trees, and young people learning how to grow food, build things, and engage with nature. The park’s absence leaves a void in daily life that no new housing or community space has yet fully replaced, underscoring how irreplaceable Bottle Tree Park was for the neighborhood.
