Park with world's longest outdoor AC path opens at Umm Al Seneem

 

Located in Al Rayyan Municipality, the park has been constructed by the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) in co-ordination with the Public Parks Department at the Ministry of Municipality.The park’s air-conditioned outdoor path is 1,143m long, which has been built to encourage the public to engage in walking, jogging and running.The opening ceremony, according to a statement from the ministry, was attended by a number of Ministry of Municipality and Ashghal officials, including Mansour Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud, assistant undersecretary for Municipal Affairs at the ministry; Ahmed Mohamed al-Sada, assistant undersecretary for Public Services Affairs at the ministry; Mohamed Ali al-Khouri, director of the Public Parks Department at the ministry; Jaber Hassan al-Jaber, director of Al Rayyan Municipality; Mohamed Arqoub al-Khaldi, head of the Supervisory Committee of Beautification of Roads and Public Places in Qatar; Jarallah al-Marri, director of the Building Projects Department at Ashghal; and Abdul Hakim al-Hashemi, head of the Public Projects Department at Ashghal, and a number of other officials from the ministry and the authority.Ashghal, represented by the Supervisory Committee of Beautification of Roads and Public Places in Qatar, had earlier achieved the Guinness World Records title for the air-conditioned outdoor path.This makes it the fifth project by the authority to make it to the Guinness World Records.The Guinness World Records announcement came during a recent tree-planting event organised by the committee as part of the Qatar Beautification and Our Kids Planting Trees campaign to plant a million trees, in co-operation with Ministry of Municipality.Guinness World Records official adjudicator Pravin Patel announced that Umm Al Seneem Park contains the longest air-conditioned pedestrian and jogging path in an open park, and its specifications as well as compliance with the records' requirements were evaluated.Ashghal president Dr Saad Ahmed al-Muhannadi said the authority is proud of the title as the park achieves a strategic plan for the popularisation and beautification of cities with the highest quality levels and international standards.“Central parks with air-conditioned paths also aim to promote a healthy lifestyle in all seasons,” he said.Umm Al Seneem Park provides 88,400sqm of green spaces with 912 trees, a 1,135m cycling path, a 1,143m (3,750ft) pedestrian and jogging path, and three exercising areas prepped with fitness equipment.Also, there are two age-specific kids' playing areas and 40 bicycle stands.It has around 900 trees of 18 variants, including 75 local, and 'green wall' measuring 820sqm.The park can accommodate about 6,000 visitors a day.The park also has six food kiosks, 85 lighting poles and locally manufactured benches.The park combines various cooling systems to reduce electricity consumption and bring down the temperature to 26C."The opening of Umm Al Seneem Park comes within the framework of the great interest that the Ministry of Municipality attaches to the establishment and development of public parks with the latest international standards, which will serve as healthy, recreational and sports outlets for families in various regions across all municipalities," said al-Khouri."This distinctive park represents an important addition to recreational facilities in Qatar, which contributes to enhancing the services provided by the ministry to the honourable public."He added that a new global record to Qatar’s credit "is a major accomplishment that we are proud of, as it also motivates us to achieve further accomplishments."Yousef al-Emadi, Projects Affairs director at Ashghal, noted that this achievement is a reward for the work team that was able to implement an air-conditioning system for the longest air-conditioned pedestrian and jogging path in an open park.Al-Khaldi said Umm Al Seneem Park is the second central air-conditioned park by the committee, and the record is an accomplishment to be added to the committee’s achievements.Al-Marri said Ashghal is proud that the pedestrian and jogging path's air-conditioning system is environmentally friendly as it generates a large percentage of electricity required to operate the air-conditioners by using solar panels.Al-Hashemi said Ashghal’s engineers proved their competencies and showed professional excellence, as they have left a significant mark on the achievement of Qatar’s prosperity Majed al-Maadadi, project manager at Ashghal, said air-conditioning open spaces is a challenge and requires years of studies and engineering experiments.He noted that the Ashghal work team prepared engineering designs and conducted necessary experiments to ensure the success of the path’s air-conditioning system.Yasmine al-Sheikh, project design manager, said the construction of the longest pedestrian and jogging path in a safe and environmentally friendly manner encourages exercising as the park has been designed to be a recreational destination for Qatar’s citizens and visitors.