Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday said that the municipality’s landmark opera house will not reopen to the public until a formal ceremony early next year.
Lin, who on Dec. 25 last year became Taichung’s first mayor from the Democratic Progressive Party in more than 13 years, said that the “trial” opening of the National Taichung Theater in November last year came before construction had been finished and the new government must rebuild parts of it in a process that could take up to six months.
“Disputes with contractors and even compensation payments have ensued” because of the rush to open the theater before the Nov. 29 elections last year, Lin said at a meeting on infrastructure projects.
The city is now stepping up construction, but to ensure quality and safety, final checks on all the work will not conclude until November, meaning an opening early next year, Lin said.
Huang Yu-lin (黃玉霖), head of the Construction Bureau, said the new administration has discovered damage to the main halls, small auditoriums and outdoor areas of the landmark designed by Japanese architect Toyo Ito.
Huang said that a large number of people toured the theater in November last year, but called it a “construction site” with “obvious public safety concerns” that should not have opened at all.
The first opera house built in downtown Taichung consists of a 2,014-seat main hall and two smaller auditoriums. The project took nearly five years to complete at a cost of NT$4.36 billion (US$141 million).
Taiwanese opera company Ming Hwa Yuan (明華園) gave a charity performance on Nov. 23 last year at the theater as part of an opening celebration, but the theater was closed on New Year’s Day by the new administration pending the additional work.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS