The Taichung Bureau of Cultural Affairs on Sunday said it would request that the government grant national heritage status to Taichung City Hall, which was built during the Japanese colonial era as the seat of government of Taichu Prefecture.
The decision was made after Taichung City Councilor Wang Li-jen (王立任) of the Democratic Progressive Party said the city government was remiss in its duty to preserve cultural heritage sites.
Taichung City Hall was built as one of five prefectural government complexes that the Japanese built in today’s Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, Wang said.
While the prefectural government building in Kaohsiung was demolished in 1987, the remaining four have survived to become cultural heritage sites, he said.
However, of the four surviving buildings, only the one in Taichung has not been granted national cultural heritage status, he said, adding that it is only designated as a municipal heritage site and an upgrade is long overdue.
The prefectural government buildings in Taipei, Hsinchu and Tainan now house the Control Yuan, Hsinchu City Hall and National Museum of Taiwan Literature, he said.
The city government should consider asking the cultural affairs bureau to develop a way of utilizing the building that shows respect for its cultural and historic value, Wang said.
The bureau said the colonial-era structure is included in a Ministry of Culture program to restore historical sites and work is expected to be finished in 2020.
The city is paying NT$86 million (US$2.85 million) of the total construction costs of NT$215 million, the bureau said, adding that it would request that the central government confer national heritage status on the old city hall as soon as renovations are completed.
Any structure that meets the criteria stipulated by the government’s guidelines for national heritage sites should be considered as qualifying for the designation, the bureau said.
Those criteria are historical, artistic or scientific significance; being representative of an artistic style or architectural technique of a historical period; and being rare or difficult to recreate, the bureau said.
Taichung City Hall easily fulfills the criteria of historical and artistic significance, the bureau said.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
RSS