The Taipei Circle (圓環市場) market is likely to be torn down following years of minimal usage, Taipei City Government’s Urban Regeneration Office said yesterday.
Office planning division chief Hsieh Ming-tung (謝明同) said that the structure, which stands on a roundabout between Nanjing W and Chongqing N roads, would be demolished after its operator’s contract is terminated in July next year, adding that the department is discussing plans for a new building to be constructed on the market’s original site.
The market was a major landmark for local food in Taipei, but revival efforts have been unsuccessful since the original market burned down in 1999. A new building south of the original site, which opened in 2003, has closed down and reopened several times. Following an announcement earlier this year that the site’s current operator’s contract would be terminated, the city government has failed to meet self-imposed deadlines for presenting a plan for the site.
Hsieh said final plans remain in flux, adding that new city management might begin with “short-term” adjustments to the building, such as additional entrances.
Taipei City Councilor Yan Juo-fang (顏若芳) of the Democratic Progressive Party said the city government needs to do more to solicit the opinions of local residents to avoid repeating past mistakes, adding that the current design model only reflected internal city discussions.
“I don’t want us to repeat past mistakes and build something that does not meet the needs of residents,” she said. “The last time we invited a famous architect to design the structure, he did not listen to local residents, so the building was beautiful, but useless.”
While the city government held discussion about the site on Saturday, most local residents were not notified, Hsieh said, adding that while his department would continue to communicate with local residents about the issue, it does not have any definite plans to hold further discussions.
A first shipment of five tons of Taiwan tilapia was sent from Tainan to Singapore on Wednesday, following an order valued at NT$600,000 (US$20,500) placed with a company in the city. The products, including frozen whole fish and pre- cooked fish belly, were dispatched from Jiangjun Fishing Harbor, where a new aquatic processing and logistics center is under construction. At the launch, Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) called the move a “breakthrough,” marking Taiwan’s expansion into the Singaporean tilapia market. Taiwan’s tilapia exports have traditionally focused on the United States, Canada, and the Middle East, Huang said, adding that the new foothold in
An electric bus charging facility at Taipei Metro’s Beitou Depot officially opened yesterday with 22 charging bays to serve the city’s 886 electric buses. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) told a ceremony to mark the opening of the facility that the city aims to fully electrify its bus fleet by 2030. The number of electric buses has grown from about 650 last year to 886 this year and is expected to surpass 1,000 by the end of the year, Chiang said. Setting up the charging station in a metro depot optimizes land and energy use, as the metro uses power mainly during the
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
Traffic controls are to be in place in Taipei starting tonight, police said, as rallies supporting recall efforts targeting the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers as well as a rally organized by the KMT opposing the recall campaigns are to take place tomorrow. Traffic controls are to be in place on City Hall Road starting from 10pm tonight and on Jinan Road Section 1 starting from 8am tomorrow, police said. Recall campaign groups in Taipei and New Taipei advocating for the recall of KMT legislators, along with the Safeguard Taiwan, Anti-Communist Alliance (反共護台聯盟), have previously announced plans for motorcycle parades and public
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