A group of historic buildings from the Japanese colonial era in Taitung City are to be renovated in a four-year project to revitalize the site, with a NT$180 million (US$5.53 million) grant from the Ministry of Culture, the Taitung County Department of Culture said on Sunday.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Liu Chao-hao (劉櫂豪) on Sunday led a tour of the area — declared a cultural heritage site last year — with Deputy Minister of Culture Yang Tzu-pao (楊子葆), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taitung Mayor Chang Kuo-chou (張國洲) and reporters.
Liu, a Taitung native who led the call for central government funding for the site, said that the houses in Taitung City’s Mincyuan Borough (民權) — comprising 17 luxury residences built for high-ranking Japanese officials in the 1930s — are important both for their historical significance and the cultural value they bring to the downtown area.
Photo: CNA
“This touch of history brings character and charm to a city like a face reflects the emotions and expression of a person,” Liu said.
“Demolishing historically significant structures in the name of urban development is shortsighted, because it destroys local culture that could have been employed to enhance a city’s soft power and competitiveness,” he added.
The infusion of funds from the ministry can provide the impetus to revitalize Liu said, calling on the county government to work with historians to revive the area and promote it as a center for teaching history and cultural tourism.
According to the Cultural Affairs Department, the Mincyuan colonial apartments are rare as few historical buildings from the era survived intact as a group.
Following its declaration as a heritage site, property transfers of the 17 buildings and 29 parcels of land were completed between last year and early this year, the department said.
Yang hailed the scale of the heritage restoration project in Taitung County as being unprecedented nationally, adding that the ministry is encouraged to see a local government join its national effort to preserve Taiwanese history.
After the renovations are completed, the ministry is interested in helping the county government develop a system of guided and virtual tours of the area through modern information technology, including virtual reality, Yang said.
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