The Taipei County Government, Taiwan Power Co and the Taiwan Sugar Corp will jointly develop a recreational park at the northeastern coastal township of Jinguashih (金瓜石), featuring the 80-year-old gold mining history which ended in the 1970s.
The county government will invest NT$100 million to build a gold mining museum to restore the memories of gold rush years in the Jinguashih region.
A Japanese-style guest house which was used as a resort for the royal family during the Japanese colonial years will be converted into a tourist information center, according to a county government spokesman.
Taiwan Sugar Corp will refurnish the company's dormitory and turn the 60 Japanese-style apartments into a small hotel. A business hotel, a convention center, and a shopping mall are planned in the four-hectare recreational park.
Jinguashih had its heyday at the turn of the century after gold was found in the region in 1890. Long years of exploitation by the Japanese during colonial rule exhausted the gold mine.
The Taiwan Gold and Copper Mining Bureau was established in 1948 after Taiwan was returned to Chinese rule after World War II.
The gold and silver mines in Jinguashih had a daily turnout of between 400 to 500 tons in 1949 and 1950, but the production continued to shrink in the following years.
Since 1971, the gold and copper mines in the Jinguashih region were closed one by one, and the mining operations were folded in 1987.
As the mining business faded, the once flourishing township lost its glamor. In the past decade, Jinguashih's population continued to drop.
In recent years, Jinguashih and the neighboring towns of Rueyfang and Chiufen have attracted many nostalgic visitors trying to recapture the old Taiwan.
The county government is hoping that a gold mine museum and park will revitalize the small township with income generated by tourism.
RSS