Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) yesterday unveiled its design for the belt-shaped park between Nanjing and Minsheng W roads and the Zhongshan and Shuanglian Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations, with Taipei Deputy Mayor Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) saying he hoped the park’s facelift would help it become a city landmark.
The redesign work is to be conducted in seven areas — on the ground level, a subsurface plaza facing the TRTC’s premises and the MRT passenger platform levels — between this month and August, Chen told reporters.
The construction work will not affect the vast majority, 85 percent, of the underground Zhongshan Metro Mall, rebuffing the accusation from Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅), a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member, last year that the city government wanted to drive bookstores out of the mall in favor of a food court, Chen said.
Photo: CNA
If the project is successful, more will be initiated to beautify Taipei’s cityscape, he said.
The project design leader, Angela Soong (宋鎮邁) — the daughter of People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) — said she hopes to make Taipei “cozier.”
Explaining some of the designs she created for the 1.96-hectare park, Angela Soong said an elevated platform would be built above MRT Zhongshan Station Exit 4 to give visitors a better view of the area.
A stage for performances is to be erected at the exit, while playground equipment is to be placed at the end of the park near Minsheng W Road, she said.
Stairs leading to the elevated park are to be replaced by slopes to provide a barrier-free space and pavements that are uneven will be renewed, she said.
Project codesigner Kerby Chou (周書賢), who designed the plaza, said TRTC would take tenders from restaurants that want to operate at the plaza, which would attract more people to the bookstores in mall.
The floor tiles in an open space in the mall where high-school street dance clubs often practice are to be replaced with less slippery ones, he said.
Staircases leading to the indented plaza will also be expanded with platforms to provide space for food vendors, which is expected to be another drawing point, he said.
Angela Soong said she hopes the facelift will led to all the belt-shaped parks between the Taipei Expo Park and Taipei Railway Station undergoing the same kind of renovations to breathe new life into Taipei’s public spaces.
The entire project is scheduled to be completed by August next year, TRTC officials said.
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Reports of Taiwanese going missing, being detained or interrogated, or having their personal liberties restricted in China increased about fourfold annually last year, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Last year, 221 Taiwanese who traveled to China were reported missing, were detained and interrogated, or otherwise had their personal freedom restricted, up from 55 the previous year, the council said. Reopening group tours to China would be risky, as it would leave travelers with no way to seek help through official channels after Beijing shut down dialogue between the associations tasked with handling cross-strait tourism, the MAC said. Taipei’s Taiwan Strait Tourism
RSS