Agencies overseeing the construction of the Taipei Dome undertaken by Farglory Group yesterday received cross-party criticism after they failed to provide a timetable on when a revised construction plan on the arena would pass a crucial review and when Farglory would finish repairing nearby historic buildings.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) asked officials when Farglory would finish repairing buildings in the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park that it allegedly damaged.
According to investigations conducted by the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs, damage at the site of the former tobacco factory includes a slanting smokestack, leaks in a building housing the Red Dot Design Museum Taipei, areas of subsidence and cracks along building facades.
Department division head Teng Wen-tsung (鄧文宗) did not give a definite answer, saying that repair work would be divided into four stages, with stage one to begin next month.
Teng said that drawings for work to be done in stages two through four were not yet finished, while the arena and adjacent stores would not be allowed to operate until the damaged buildings have been restored.
Chin said the department had been “slacking off,” adding that the department’s poor oversight of the repairs could cause the work to drag on indefinitely.
Officials also did not answer Chin’s question about when changes Farglory made to the project would be cleared by the Taiwan Architecture and Building Center — a prerequisite for the suspended Dome project to resume.
Department of Urban Development Commissioner Lin Jou-min (林洲民) last month said that the corporation would probably by the end of the year pass the center’s “functional assessment” on the construction — which would address 79 areas in which work carried out by Farglory contravened its construction plans — while his subordinate, Luo Wen-ming (羅文明), yesterday declined to give a time estimate, saying that the review was still in its preliminary stages.
Luo said that Farglory had been “reluctantly cooperative” with the center out of “commercial” concerns over the potentially negative effects the review results would have on the arena and commercial zone complex.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said that it is unacceptable that the Department of Cultural Affairs uses the Dome’s operation license to let Farglory carry out repair work, as it “puts the cart before the horse.”
Wu called on the Department of Cultural Affairs to press Farglory to deliver a report on how it plans to restore the damaged buildings.
She said that the city government must reach a consensus with the Architecture and Building Center to finish reviewing construction of the Dome by end of the year by ordering that Farglory submit any requisite data for review.
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