The Taipei City Government’s review of the cultural value of a Japanese colonial-era house in Daan District (大安) last week led to confrontations between protesters, developers and prospective residents.
The townhouse on Lane 22, Wenzhou Street has been a bone of contention since 2006, when the city refused to name it a cultural heritage site on grounds that its distinctiveness was lost to renovation over the years.
National Taiwan University (NTU), which owns the property, plans to develop it and 10 other properties into a 30-unit apartment complex.
The university was granted a building permit this year.
Conservationists said the house is a cultural landmark and should not be demolished, citing its 80-year history, its use by former minister of national defense Yu Ta-wei (俞大維) and its status in the 1970s as the city’s unofficial literary salon.
In 1950, the property was assigned to professor Yu Ta-tsai (俞大綵) after the death of her husband, academic Fu Ssu-nien (傅斯年).
In 1954, her brother Yu Ta-wei was invited to live in the house, conservationists said.
An inspection by Department of Cultural Affairs officials and members of the cultural heritage review committee was made on Friday, apparently in response to renewed attempts to preserve the house.
NTU General Affairs Office deputy director Hsu Ping-yi (徐炳義) said the university allotted the house to Yu Ta-tsai and it is not the former residence of the late minister.
Taipei Deputy Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Tien Wei (田瑋) said arguments that the house was the residence of a major historical figure do not apply, as Yu Ta-wei was an occupant by invitation of its official resident.
Despite Friday’s activity being labeled an inspection, it was to collect opinions of the groups involved, Tien said, adding that a meeting of the city’s Cultural Heritage Review Committee would convene as early as next month.
The protesters who seek heritage status for the property said Yu Ta-wei’s legacy of defending Taiwan during the artillery duel of Aug. 23, 1958, should be commemorated.
Prospective residents of the housing project on Friday last week shouted at the protesters.
Many prospective residents have made moving arrangements, only to be informed that there could be complications regarding the project, they said.
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