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.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
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The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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