The facility, located in the city centre, cost $244 million

Moscow on Monday opened a brand new park to the public just steps from the Kremlin, boasting wonders such as an ice labyrinth, despite criticism over its huge price-tag.

Zaryadye Park has replaced a gigantic Soviet-era hotel on the banks of the Moscow river, which was demolished in 2006 leaving a lot that stood empty for many years as investors and City Hall clashed over the space, valued at more than $1 billion.

Spanning an area just over 10 hectares in prime location near Red Square and the Kremlin, the lot was eventually converted into a park because “nothing else worked”, said Moscow’s culture department chief Alexander Kibovsky as he gave a tour to journalists.

“We were shocked” when Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin floated the idea, Mr. Kibovsky said. “I don’t know another metropolis where they would disregard commercial value and use the territory as a public space. It’s fantastic”

The park consists of a landscape with different geobotanical “zones” including one resembling a tundra, as well as attractions like a philharmonic hall concealed under a hill with a “glass crust” roof and an ice cave with a labyrinth.

Lush display

“Since we (Russia) have a lot of territory beyond the Arctic circle, we are showing it here,” Mr. Kibovsky said.

Park director Pavel Trekhleb pointed out that climate control for the park’s southern plants will be provided with infrared lanterns, while fish will be supplied into the pond on a weekly basis.

“You can come with a fishing pole and get fish for dinner,” he said

Zaryadye Park is one element of the current Mayor’s push to remake Moscow which has turned the city of some 12 million into a vast construction site over the past few years.

The park cost $244 million (₹1,560 crore) to develop. Critics have called its pricey elements frivolous at a time when the country is trying to recover from recession.

“No money in the budget to pay salaries to doctors, pensions in the provinces are miniscule, while Moscow is behaving like a fat cat,” wrote critic Svetlana Popova on Facebook.