The Taipei City Government plans to ask the Farglory Group to downsize the Taipei Dome over safety concerns, Taipei City Government spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) said yesterday.
Lin made the remarks after an ad hoc meeting presided over by Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who returned from a trip to the US earlier yesterday, about the city government’s negotiations with Farglory to resolve the beleaguered build-operate-transfer project.
Lin said the city deems the complex’s size excessive and would seek to downsize the Dome and neighboring commercial facilities Farglory wants to build.
The City Urban Planning Commission said that due to the Dome’s unprecedented size, the city had set its own standards for reviewing its safety, as existing regulations governing the safety of stadiums do not apply to the project.
Lin said that the Taipei High Administrative Court would on Thursday issue a ruling on an arbitration Farglory had filed against the city government over the multiple fines the city had imposed on the group for failing to complete the construction on the date stated in the build-operate-transfer contract.
He reiterated Ko’s stance that the two sides would act according to the contract on the condition that all safety issues posed by the construction — which the city suspended in May last year — are resolved.
A source familiar with the issue said that a coalition of banks which loaned capital to Farglory for the construction decided not to take over the project.
As any entity interested in taking over the complex would need to pay for all assets related to the construction in addition to paying the city a premium, the city would likely retain a large space allotted for commercial uses to attract interested parties, the source said.
Meanwhile, a source from the city government said that the baseball stadium could wind up being used as a greenhouse to meet safety standards.
The official, who asked to remain anonymous, said that as long as the city can find another tract of land no smaller than the plot where the complex is located and swap the uses of the stadium and the proposed greenhouse, it would be able to circumvent a regulation stipulating that the floor space of sports facilities must be larger than that of commercial properties.
Sports personalities expressed disbelief over reports that the baseball stadium could be used as a greenhouse.
Chinese Taipei Baseball Association secretary-general Lin Tsung-cheng (林宗成) said the plan was “too peculiar,” adding that he believes the municipal government would not allow the scenario to play out.
Uni-President Lions coach Su Tai-an (蘇泰安) said that baseball is a sport that is susceptible to weather; therefore, an indoors stadium is desperately needed.
“From an athletic perspective, it makes no difference whether Taipei has a dome,” Su said.
Additional reporting by Hsieh Chia-chun
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