Plans for building the park on the 10-acre site near Upper Serangoon Road and Bidadari Cemetery first came into the mind of the Arab merchant Syed Abdul Rahman Shaik Alkaff, with his building contractor suggested in "decorating the site with Japanese teahouses, sidewalks with granitechips, Japanese Arch and bridges".

Robert Bradwell, on behalf of refreshment bar owner Sailoku Tajiri, applied for a first-class licence to sell Asahi beer there, which was granted on 20 June 1930.

The premises was restricted to the public, not even the owner of the park, Syed Abdul Rahman Shaik Alkaff, was allowed to enter.

[11] By April 1948, the former Alkaff Gardens was largely forgotten and in disrepair, its lake water choked with weeds and all of its building structures having been taken down.

[19] On 28 July 1950, the claim of preserving the park was met with support from the Singapore Progressive Party, which called on the authorities to take necessary action.

[25] One month later in August 1950, more than 1,000 people rushed to buy the 1,400 houses which the Sennett Realty Co. Ltd. had planned for its housing estate on the 170-acre land which included the former Alkaff Gardens,[26] and by September, about 2,000 applications received by the company, in addition to the proposal to give up 20 acres to preserve the Alkaff Gardens, the company also planned to reserve 5 acres to build a school due to a number of applications received from local teachers.

[27][28] Later on 28 September 1950, the Singapore Improvement Trust approved the building plan, with its trustees stipulating that the park to be preserved as an open space.

[29] On 23 April 1960, the residents of the Sennett Estate seek for the authorities to develop Alkaff Gardens, due to a lack of playground in their neighbourhood.

[3][35] The area west of the site, formerly part of Bidadari Cemetery, houses the build-to-order project known as the Alkaff Neighbourhood, launched in 2015.