XUHUI District yesterday launched an art exhibition in an under-construction art park being redeveloped from a historic oil station site.

The exhibition marks the opening of a 1.1-kilometer riverside section by Huangpu River.

The oil station site was built by China National Aviation Fuel to store aviation fuel for supply to Hongqiao airport. Five tanks built by the aviation fuel supplier are being renovated and transformed as a reminder of a past industrial era.

Cranes are removing the covers of the huge tanks so the structures can be converted into exhibition halls, plazas, gardens, book stores, education centers and restaurants

Now called Tank Shanghai Art Park, the site is scheduled to officially open in 2018.

The exhibition that opened yesterday is in a former water pump station of the fuel supplier. It includes paintings, photographs and installations and runs until August 27.

Exhibition visitors will be able to look at the newly opened riverside section, the under-construction oil park and the nearby Dream Center project, a cultural, art and recreational hub, an official with the district government said.

A former port of the fuel supplier has been retained as a sightseeing platform for visitors to view the narrowest section of the Huangpu River.

A new platform along the river was also opened yesterday, sited alongside the future Longhua Helicopter Airport that will serve helicopters to be used for emergency rescues.

The Xuhui riverside, also known as the West Bund area, will have 8.4km of boulevards, five bridges for sightseeing, open public areas, and more than 100,000 square meters of waterside decks by the end of the year.