An artist’s rendering of the new $50 million park and tourist attraction to be built at Ypao Beach, on the site of the current Gov. Joseph Flores Memorial Park. Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero provided $20 million in federal pandemic relief funding for the project, which could be complete in 2025.

“Tenda Town”, a three-story commercial building with a large flying proa on top, is one of the attractions to be built as part of a $50 million project to improve Ypao Beach, at the site of the current Gov. Joseph Flores Memorial Park.

An artist’s rendering of the new $50 million park and tourist attraction to be built at Ypao Beach, on the site of the current Gov. Joseph Flores Memorial Park. Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero provided $20 million in federal pandemic relief funding for the project, which could be complete in 2025.

“Tenda Town”, a three-story commercial building with a large flying proa on top, is one of the attractions to be built as part of a $50 million project to improve Ypao Beach, at the site of the current Gov. Joseph Flores Memorial Park.

Millions of dollars in federal pandemic recovery funding for Guam will be spent to improve the government park at Ypao Beach, turning it into a unique interactive tourist attraction and a place for residents to hang out, learn about and share the CHamoru culture, according to the Guam Visitors Bureau.

Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero gave GVB $20 million in American Rescue Plan funding for the project, which is expected to cost a total of $50 million, said Nico Fujikawa, who is GVB’s tourism research and strategic planning director.

The $20 million is part of the $570 million Guam received from the American Rescue Plan – money which can be allocated at the governor’s discretion according to federal spending guidelines to help Guam recover from the pandemic.

The island’s tourism industry was shuttered for most of the pandemic, but tourists recently have started to return in larger numbers after airlines increased the number of flights to the island and South Korea made it easier for its citizens to return home without quarantine.

GVB started discussing and planning for park improvements last fall, Fujikawa said.

“Now that we’re going to start competing globally again for international markets, what is our draw? What is Guam’s attraction?” Fujikawa said. “(The GVB) team agreed we rely on our beaches way too much… Bali has beaches, Hawaii has beaches. It’s not a unique attraction. He said the new park — “Tano i Famagu’on” — is based on the premise that “the local experience is the visitor experience.”

“Essentially, we’re creating a new experience for the people of Guam, and then making that an attraction internationally,” he said.

The project, which translates to “land of the children,” is billed as a “smart park” that will incorporate interactive features for visitors.

“Imagine a park immersed in CHamoru culture, icons, but everything has a digital component. You can scan everything. There’s augmented reality, live photos. There’s geocaching — everything that kind of interacts with what you’re immersed in,” Fujikawa said. “We’re trying to make culture and a lot of things we grew up with accessible through digital means.”

Fujikawa said the project is consistent with the governor’s vision for Guam tourism, and she is very supportive of it.

“We already have our concept in place,” and a tentative deadline to complete the project by 2025, he said. The governor “is fully on board with this, she’s committed to the project, and it’s really been the catalyst for us to move it forward.”

The project will be completed in phases, and Fujikawa said the plan is to use federal grants available to local government agencies to pay for full construction. For example, the Guam Council on the Arts and Humanities Agency might be able to get grant money to build the site’s proposed cultural center, he said.

Rent and fees from activities at the park will pay for maintenance, Fujikawa said, adding he believes as much as $7.5 million per year can be collected.

Fujikawa said the governor is expected to issue an executive order soon, creating a government task force to oversee the project, which will be built at the site of the existing Gov. Joseph Flores Memorial Park. The proposal is for GVB to take over the site, which currently is controlled by the Department of Parks and Recreation.

The new park’s defining structure – a three-story commercial building with a large flying proa on its roof — would be built where the current park’s gates stand. The building will be called “Tenda Town.”

“The flying proa was one of the first things that an outsider documented, when Magellan came to Guam,” Fujikawa said about the traditional outrigger sailing canoes. “We wanted that (building) to be the first thing a visitor or even our locals see when they’re flying into the island — there’s the flying proa.”

According to GVB’s proposal, a new walkway would be built across the park, with a fountain at its center that shoots streams of water from the ground.

A garden shaped like the Guam Seal would be built next to the fountain and showcase local plants, including plants used for traditional healing.

A cultural center, with a 30-foot water wall, would be built next to the current GVB administrative offices along Pale San Vitores Road. A workout area for adults, including an open-air building, would be built next to the cultural center.

The current park’s main pavilion will remain, but be “augmented,” according to Fujikawa.

The smaller huts currently scattered around the park, which are available for rent through Parks and Rec, will be torn down, with new huts built around the main pavilion, closer to the beach.

Some of the new huts will be larger and designed to showcase local legends, Fujikawa said.

The center of the park will remain undeveloped, as an area to host concerts and festivals.

A large playground will be built along the shoreline near the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa, in an area that has been used for parking.

“Imagine things like a tsunami seesaw, or a “plumeria”-go-round or a dukduk slide,” Fujikawa said. “You can’t take your kids to a playground that has latte stones in it. Why not? We’re known for that. So that’s what this park is aiming to do.”

Reach reporter Steve Limtiaco at

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