Theme Park Report
Satay by the Bay at Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay will close permanently after Sept. 30, making way for the upcoming Wetlands by the Bay development.
Gardens by the Bay announced the closure in a Facebook post on Sept. 1. The open-air foodcourt, which has seating for 1,000 people, will close on Oct. 1 as part of what the attraction described as an “exciting refresh.” The Satay by the Bay team has invited customers to visit for a final meal before its last day of operations.
Wetlands by the Bay is scheduled to open in stages from the end of 2028, according to an announcement made in Parliament by Minister of State for National Development Alvin Tan on March 4. The development will incorporate the existing Kingfisher Wetlands along with the area currently occupied by Satay by the Bay, a carpark and a nursery.
The new wetlands area is planned to span about 5 hectares, or roughly the size of seven football fields, making it three times larger than Kingfisher Wetlands. Satay by the Bay will be replaced by a two-storey dining block. Jason Yeo, general manager of master planning at Gardens by the Bay, told The Straits Times in March that the dining block is expected to be the first facility to open within Wetlands by the Bay in 2028.
The development will also include a museum from international art collective teamLab, which is known for immersive displays and exhibitions.
Satay by the Bay opened in 2013 as the latest incarnation of Singapore’s Satay Club. The food venue’s history traces back to the late 1940s, when Satay Club was said to have begun operating off Beach Road. It later moved to an open-air site at the Esplanade in the 1970s, before stallholders were required to relocate in 1994 for the development of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay and the Nicoll Highway extension.
Eight of the original 28 stallholders later moved to Clarke Quay Satay Club, which closed in 2005. Satay by the Bay launched in 2013 with eight pushcarts serving satay and other local dishes.
