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Officials fail to save historic kiln

Taipei City Councilor Wu Shih-cheng, center, speaks to reporters in front of the site of a century-old kiln which was demolished by its owner last month before the city government could designate it as a cultural heritage site. Lung Ying-tai, left, director of Taipei's Cultural Affairs Bureau, looks on. PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

Efforts by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Taipei City Gov-ernment to place the historic Octagon Kiln in Nankang (南港八卦窯) under government protection have failed and the structure has been demolished.

"At a district meeting in July,many of the chiefs of the district's wards urged that the kiln be placed on the relics list," said Taipei City Councilor Wu Shih-cheng (吳世正), who was upset by its destruction. "However, we still could not make it in time to save the site," Wu said.

In March 1999 the Bureau of Civil Affairs sent experts to examine the kiln and make a decision on whether it merited protection. During the meeting, the committee decided not to approve its preservation as its many repairs had rendered the structure unsafe.

"It's ridiculous," Wu said. "The kiln was still being used until the 1970s and of course it would be repaired with new construction materials from time to time. It's not only a factory that produced earthen tiles but also precious proof of Taiwan's history."

The Octagon Kiln was located at Lane 256, Nankang Road Sec. 3. Some of the earthen tiles it produced were used to build the Presidential Palace. People called it the "Octagon Kiln" because its buildings had octagonal shapes. The factory used to produce 60,000 tiles a day before it was closed in the 1970s.

Most landlords do not want their property to be listed as historic because such a designation will not allow them develop their property.

"We tried to cut 50 percent off the Land Value Tax to those landlords whose land has been listed. But it didn't really work," said Lung Ying-tai (龍應台), head of the cultural affairs bureau of the city government.

"I don't know what I can do now it has been torn down. In a democratic country, everybody should respect the wishes of landlords to keep and do whatever they want on their land. But we also need to protect our relics."

"There are 12 districts in Taipei City. However, Nankang and Neihu are the only two districts without any historic sites," Lung said. "I would like to ask all the residents in these two districts to please report anything they belπieve is worth protecting in their neighborhood to the Bureau of Cultural Affairs."
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