Almost two years after the dance studio of Taiwanese dance legend Tsai Jui-yueh (
However, the job won't begin until March of next year.
The Japanese style wooden building burned down on Oct. 26, 1999, four days after it was de-signated as a municipal historic relic.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
After the fire, Taipei City Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) pledged that both an investigation into the blaze and the reconstruction of the site would be completed within a month. However, no repairs or arrests have as yet been made.
Inspecting the China Dance Club studio located on Chungshan North Road, Section 2, Lung Ying-tai (
"What's so amazing about the place is not the building itself, but its role in Taiwan's modern dance history," Lung said.
Lung also gave her reasons for why the reconstruction project has taken so long to come about.
"We are required by law to follow certain procedures because it's a historic relic," she said. "It might seem that we haven't been doing anything regarding the repairs, but the truth is that we've been working on it day in and day out."
Six months after the fire, the city commissioned Su Ming-hsiu (
After an eight-month study was completed in December last year, the bureau entrusted the Fu Hang-jen Architect and Associates to design and eventually rebuild the structure.
The bureau has proposed NT$21 million for the reconstruction project over the next financial year and is waiting for the city council to review the proposal.
"Hopefully, the council will approve the budget as proposed. If everything goes well, we hope to start reconstruction in March next year and complete it by the end of the year," Lung said.
Briefing Lung about the project yesterday, Fu said that the first floor will have a cafe, a gift shop, indoor and outdoor performance areas and a static display room.
On the second floor, there will be a library and a research room. The first and second floors of the basement will house practice rooms and a community culture center.
"Our design concept is to blend the old and new, people and nature together and make this place the most beautiful green space in the concrete jungle," Fu said.
Tsai, who is dubbed Taiwan's mother of modern dance, began her dancing and teaching career in Taiwan in 1946 at the age of 25.
The city had originally planned to demolish the dance studio in 1994, but a conservation campaign launched by local artists secured its designation as a municipal historic site in 1999.
CELEBRATION: The PRC turned 75 on Oct. 1, but the Republic of China is older. The PRC could never be the homeland of the people of the ROC, Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) could not be the “motherland” of the people of the Republic of China (ROC), President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks in a speech at a Double Ten National Day gala in Taipei, which is part of National Day celebrations that are to culminate in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on Thursday night next week. Lai wished the country a happy birthday and called on attendees to enjoy the performances and activities while keeping in mind that the ROC is a sovereign and independent nation. He appealed for everyone to always love their
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
MAKING PROGRESS: Officials and industry leaders who participated in a defense forum last month agreed that Taiwan has the capabilities to work with the US, the report said Taiwan’s high-tech defense industry is to enhance collaboration with the US to produce weapons needed for self-defense, the Ministry of National Defense said in a report to the Legislative Yuan. Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Yen-pu (徐衍璞) discussed building regional and global industry alliances with US partners at the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Philadelphia held from Sept. 22 to Tuesday last week, the ministry said in the declassified portion of the report. The visit contributed to maintaining bilateral ties, facilitated Taiwan’s efforts to acquire weapons and equipment, and strengthened the resilience of the two nation’s defense industries, it said. Taiwan-US ties
CONCERNS: Allowing the government, political parties or the military to own up to 10 percent of a large media firm is a risk Taiwan cannot afford to take, a lawyer said A Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator has proposed amendments to allow the government, political parties and the military to indirectly invest in broadcast media, prompting concerns of potential political interference. Under Article 1 of the Satellite Broadcasting Act (衛星廣播電視法), the government and political parties — as well as foundations established with their endowments, and those commissioned by them — cannot directly or indirectly invest in satellite broadcasting businesses. A similar regulation is in the Cable Radio and Television Act (有線廣播電視法). “The purpose of banning the government, political parties and the military from investing in the media is to prevent them from interfering