Taipao selected as new locale for coveted museum branch

The Executive Yuan has announced its final decision to establish a branch of the prestigious National Palace Museum (故宮博物院) in Chiayi County's Taipao (太保).

Cabinet spokesman Chuang Shou-han (莊碩漢) told the Taipei Times yesterday that Premier Yu Shyi-kun picked Taipao in Chiayi as the site of the Museum's southern branch because of considerations to reduce the development gap between rural and urban areas. In so doing, the premier passed over both Kaohsiung and Taichung

"Both Taichung and Kaohsiung have plenty cultural resources as they developed as metropolitan areas. Chiayi, however, lacks such resources," Chuang said yesterday.

Another reason behind the decision, according to Chuang, is to combine the drawing power of the new museum with that of the famous and popular Alishan (阿里山) in order to attract more foreign tourists to Chiayi County.

"We have a package plan for this. We hope that the decision can help to double the number of tourists from Taiwan as well," Chuang said.

According to Chuang, there were 14 institutions with a total of 20 proposals competing for the right to establish a new branch of the museum.

A 13-member assessment team -- comprising experts and scholars in museum science geology and economic development -- narrowed the choice of location down to three sites: Taipao, Situn (西屯) in Taichung and Tsoying (左營) in Kaohsiung.

The list then was turned over to the premier for the final decision.

Officials from the National Palace Museum said that the branch in Taipao will be developed by combining local artifacts with exhibits from other Asian countries. Collections from Japan, Korea and other Southeast Asian countries will be included.

Officials also said that with some 650,000 items in the museum collection, many of them can't be exhibited all the time due to the lack of adequate display space. The new branch will help resolve this problem and help promote art education, officials said.

Chiayi County Magistrate Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) was elated to learn that Taipao was chosen to host the new museum, saying that "it is the most exciting gift of 2003" as he celebrated the good news with champagne.

Chen said that the land for the project is owned by the state-owned Taiwan Sugar Corporation and covers 57 hectares. He noted that 1 million people live within a 20km radius of Taipao, and that the museum would also benefit people from Yunlin, Chiayi and Tainan counties.