Thu, Jan 01, 2015 page4

• Private backers called on to restore historical sites

  PRESERVING HISTORY: The NPA is introducing new incentives for investors to lease and restore heritage sites, a concept critics say is not always successful

  • By Lii Wen / Staff reporter
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  The National Property Administration (NPA) is set to enact a new measure today to encourage private investment in the restoration of cultural heritage sites under its jurisdiction.

  The NPA owns 80 cultural heritage sites around the nation — including 47 classified as “historical monuments” and 33 classified as “historical architecture” — among them famous structures such as the Chien-kuo Brewery (建國啤酒廠).

  The leased historical sites could potentially become cafes, galleries, museums or other facilities.

  The move is not without precedent and cultural heritage experts say that past experiences in leasing out heritage sites have drawn mixed results.

  Following the footsteps of municipal governments in Greater Tainan and Taipei, the NPA said it would start accepting applications from private firms and nonprofit organizations that are willing to rent heritage sites under its jurisdiction.

  The NPA said it would offer investors rent incentives for a five-year lease on the condition that they take responsibility for the restoration of the historical site.

  Cultural heritage expert Ling Tzung-kuei (凌宗魁) said that most cultural heritage sites in Taipei are wooden structures that date back to the Japanese colonial era, leading to high restoration costs.

  With the Department of Cultural Affairs short of funding to conduct restoration projects on its own, government agencies have a tendency to prioritize private investors with sufficient funding, Ling said.

  “Smaller organizations that place importance on bringing out the innate values of cultural heritage sites are not always successful in their bid,” Ling said.

  He added that public agencies such as the NPA are often “perplexed” when their buildings are designated as cultural heritage sites, as they lack expertise in handling such sites.

  Meanwhile, cultural preservation groups yesterday demanded the government designate Jiahe New Village (嘉禾新村) — a recently vacated military dependents’ village near Taipei’s Gongguan (公館) area — as a temporary historical monument, to protect historic architecture in the village from vandalism.

  Led by members of Jiahe Studio, cultural preservation activists said parts of the buildings, such as iron windows, fences and even entire roofs, have been stolen by hardware dealers for profit, wreaking damage to historic architecture.

  “We are afraid that the village won’t be able to make it through the transition period of another three months,” Jiahe Studio spokesperson Yu Liang-kui (郁良溎) said. “The walls and floorboards of many buildings have been ripped apart by dealers to obtain wires inside.”

  A cultural heritage evaluation in October was postponed after judges said they lacked access to many buildings in the village, with many buildings still under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of National Defense.

  As the ministry is set to relinquish ownership of the buildings later this month, the evaluation would most likely stay in limbo until next month, Yu said, adding that designating the village as a temporary historical monument would protect it from further damage.

  Although the village was vacated in late October to make way for a large park, activists say it should be preserved as a reminder of the unique lifestyle and culture generated by the mass influx of postwar immigrants who settled in Taipei.

  Clustered along winding alleyways, the majority of houses in the village were constructed in the 1950s by military personnel who arrived in Taiwan after the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) defeat in the Chinese Civil War.

  Many houses in the village were built through alterations made to existing structures that belonged to a short-lived military maintenance compound set up by the now-defunct Combined Services Forces. Several wooden structures dating back to the Japanese colonial era are also dispersed throughout the village.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    First new high-capacity MRT train arrives from S Korea

  • 2

    Navy needs 12 subs for modern fleet: CSBC head

  • 3

    Snake on a train spooks riders on Taipei MRT line

  • 4

    HIMARS to be deployed to islands

  • 5

    Legislature passes defense budget bill