A meeting to review changes to the Taipei Dome’s interior design ground to a halt yesterday as city officials and company executives traded barbs between proceedings over the necessity of the meeting and the legitimacy of the Taipei City Government subjecting the Dome’s design to further review.
Farglory Group yesterday submitted the fourth revision to the Dome’s interior design, which involves changes to the stadium’s evacuation routes, to the Urban Design Review Committee for review.
The meeting to review the changes devolved into a debate over facts regarding the construction project after Taipei Department of Urban Development Commissioner Lin Jou-min (林洲民) and Farglory Land Development Co executives and attorneys started arguing.
Photo: Liang Pei-chi, Taipei Times
The construction of the stadium has been halted since May at the order of Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) over public safety concerns.
Farglory Dome Co general manager Tang Chia-feng (湯佳?) protested holding the meeting.
Tang said that an official document issued by the Construction and Planning Agency targeted Farglory.
The document stated whether outdoor spaces surrounding the Dome are sufficient to accommodate evacuees is an issue that should be resolved by a comprehensive review of the city’s urban planning instead of the department calling the meeting.
Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting, Farglory spokesman Jacky Yang (楊舜欽) said that Ko had reneged on the agreement he had reached with Farglory that changes to the Dome’s interior design would be reviewed by the Taiwan Architecture and Building Center, which, according to Ko, was “an objective third party,” and that the city government had “lynched” Farglory by taking the review under its jurisdiction.
Lin said that the meeting was called because Farglory submitted the revision and that the firm had the right to break up the meeting if it so desired, to which Tang replied: “We must continue with the meeting, because we need to obtain the construction license.”
Tensions escalated as Farglory attorney Edgar Chen (陳彥希) questioned the necessity of the meeting, citing the Guidelines on Urban Design Review Procedures (都市設計審議作業注意事項), which says urban design plans may bypass meetings if a review can be conducted in compliance with local-government-level bylaws or based on architectural drawings.
With reference to the initial design approved in 2011, which secured Farglory the initial construction license, Chen said the city government’s demand that the construction undergo more stringent reviews contradicts its earlier decisions.
His remarks prompted Lin to accuse Farglory of having substituted the design passed in 2011 — which contained more staircases for evacuation — with another drawing containing less stairs, which Farglory adhered to during construction.
Lin said that he had asked project co-contractor Obayashi Corp whether it had more than one design and that the company said “no,” adding that he came across the drawing while looking through documents submitted by Farglory.
Stan Lo (羅興華), the architect overseeing the construction, rebutted Lin’s claim, saying that even if Farglory had really passed the initial review by such a ploy, it would not be able to pass subsequent reviews to obtain construction and operation licenses.
Committee member and Tamkang University architecture professor Liu Hsin-jung (劉欣蓉) said Farglory had only submitted a general site plan for the construction, and asked the firm to provide data on the building’s sections and elevations to better approach issues surrounding evacuation.
Lin said the meeting would be adjourned until Farglory submits the revision again.
Ko later in the day responded to questions asked by Farglory over the meeting, saying that the center only agreed to three of the seven benchmarks set by the city government while assessing the Dome’s evacuation plans, and the department needs to cover inspection work the center declined to undertake and forward any issues to the center for further action.
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