The Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) said it would devote more effort to encouraging live music venues and cultural establishments to meet safety regulations, but will not shut down such venues.
In light of a fire in March that killed nine people in a nightclub in Greater Taichung, the council began a three-month series of safety inspections on about 400 performance venues around the nation, including larger concert and exhibition halls, culture centers, rehearsal studios, “live houses” and smaller cultural establishments.
The inspections have found that several of Taipei’s performance venues, such as Witch House, a popular pub and live music venue, Crown Theater and Guling Street Avant-Garde Theatre — both of which are hotspots for showing experimental performances — do not meet regulations because most of them were built decades ago when no such regulations existed.
A petition was launched earlier this month urging the council not to close the two theaters. More than 1,500 people have signed the petition.
“Although the purpose of the inspection was to help improve public safety, we never told them to stop operating,” Council for Cultural Affairs Minister Emile Sheng (盛治仁) said.
Sheng said he understood the importance of keeping the smaller cultural establishments going, because they are the cradle maintaining a vibrant cultural scene, but he added that public safety should never be overlooked or neglected.
Sheng said the government would revise regulations to allow such venues to operate legally and that he would meet with the managers of such establishments on Friday to find a solution acceptable to everyone.
The council said it had asked the managers of 488 performance venues nationwide to improve their fire safety measures, and it has so far inspected 180 of them to ensure that they conform to safety regulations.
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