The Changhua County Government yesterday said it hopes to open a 69-year-old bomb shelter on Baguashan (八卦山) to visitors as part of a plan to turn the location into a military tourism hotspot.
The bomb shelter — which is 98m long, 2.2m wide and 2.2m high — is near the Baguashan Silver Bridge, one of the most iconic tourist spots on Baguashan, but the shelter is only accessible to groups or institutions that have made a reservation, the county government said.
Baguashan was the site of an 1895 battle as Japan took control of Taiwan and it has the remains of an artillery battery as well as bomb shelters, most of which are very deep, it said.
Photo: Chang Tsung-chiu, Taipei Times
However, the 98m-long shelter, the longest on the site, is well preserved, and several county officials have suggested transforming it into a tourist attraction, it said.
In 2018, the county government applied for NT$10 million (US$337,918) from a Ministry of Transportation and Communications tourism promotion program to improve the condition of sites on Baguashan, such as the silver bridge, walkways, plazas and the longest shelter, it said.
Refurbishment plans for the shelter included reinforcing its structure, upgrading the ventilation and water drainage systems, paving the walkway, and installing lights, cameras and a broadcast system, Changhua Department of City and Tourism Development director Tien Fei-peng (田飛鵬) said, adding that the budget for the work was roughly NT$4.4 million.
However, only the bomb shelter’s entrance was repaired, as the ministry did not approve the funds, Tien said.
Changhua County Commissioner Wang Hui-mei (王惠美) said that the bomb shelter has the potential to become a tourist hotspot.
The county government would continue to beautify the Baguashan environment and apply for funds from the central government for the work, including on the shelter’s refurbishment, Wang said.
Hopefully, the effort to create more tourist spots would attract more visitors to the county and draw people who had moved away to return during vacations, she said.
The commissioner is considering whether to make the bomb shelter part of a military technology area that offers visitors an immersive experience, Tien said.
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