Construction started today on a new art center in Fengxian District, which is set to become a major cultural landmark in the city’s southern suburb.

The Nine Tree Art Center, covering 76,670 square meters in Nanqiao Town and set to serve as one of the main sites for the opening of the national art festival, will open to the public in October 2019, district director of Fengxian, Hua Yuan, said recently.

“The art center will have a main theater of 1,200 seats, a multifunctional theater with 500 seats and a 300-seat theater, as well as several art exhibition halls,” Hua added.

“The building, to be surrounded by a park, will make people feel comfortable and at peace,” renowned French architect and the designer of the art center Frederic Rolland said. “It will showcase how Fengxian will look in the future,” he added.

Construction also started yesterday on a dozen other projects nearby — new roads, a park, kindergarten, dental clinic, senior’s home and a residents’ activity center — to develop the rural Nanqiao area into a “new city,” the district government said.

Furthermore, the Fengxian Urban Museum, which includes the urban planning exhibition hall of the district, will be completed in September 2018. It will exhibit both the history and future of Fengxian, as well as becoming an important public venue for residents to take part in various activities.

The main structure of Shanghai Fish Lake — also know as Jinhai Lake — has been completed. It's the city's largest artificial lake, covering 8.74 square kilometers, roughly the size of 800 standard football pitches, and is designed to be an iconic scenic lake, not only for Fengxian, but the city as well.

Meanwhile, a new elevated expressway will open to motorists tonight which will shorten the distance between downtown Xujiahui and Fengxian by 20 minutes from the current driving time of over an hour. The driving distance between Minhang and downtown will also be heavily shortened.

The Hongmei Road S. Elevated Road will open at 8:18pm today. The 10.89-kilometer-long elevated highway will have a total of eight lanes in both directions, with a designated speed of 80 kilometers per hour.