A multipurpose stadium with a seating capacity of more than 30,000 is to be built at the Shuinan Economic and Trade Park in Taichung, Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said on Wednesday.
Lu said the city had selected a site in the industrial park for the planned “Taichung Dome” (台中大巨蛋), which she said could host professional baseball games, large-scale concerts and other events.
Lu praised the 16.3 hectare venue at the Shuinan park in Situn District (西屯), saying it was at a “key node” of Taichung’s public transportation network.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Government
The Shuinan park is about a 20-minute walk from the two nearest MRT stations, about a 15-minute drive from Taiwan High Speed Rail’s Taichung Station, and about 30 minutes by car from Taichung International Airport.
The city officially opened the bidding on Wednesday morning for private developers to submit their proposals for the venue over the next three months, the mayor said, adding that the planned facility could begin operations before 2030 if everything goes smoothly.
The planned stadium, expected to cost more than NT$40 billion (US$1.34 billion) to build, would also include commercial facilities such as a shopping mall, Taichung Sports Bureau director Yu Chih-hsiang (游志祥) said.
The project would be carried out as a build-operate-transfer (BOT) project, a type of public-private partnership in which a private company finances, builds and operates a facility for a fixed period before transferring ownership back to the government, Yu said.
The city government aims to finalize a contract next year, he said, adding that the bidding process would be open and fair.
The BOT model is often used for major public infrastructure to reduce government spending and take advantage of private-sector expertise.
However, public concerns over BOT projects have grown over the past few years due to corruption and misconduct investigations linked to some high-profile developments, including the Taipei Dome project and the MeHAS City (美河市) housing project in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店).
The planned Taichung Dome, if realized, would be the third large-scale sports venue in the city, following the Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, which has a capacity of about 20,000 people, and the Taichung Arena (台中巨蛋), which began construction in June last year.
The Taichung Arena, designed to host a range of sports events, but not baseball games, would have a seating capacity of 15,500 and is estimated to cost NT$12.4 billion.
Given the existence of a baseball stadium and the launch of an indoor arena, building a large-scale dome for baseball and other major events in the central Taiwan city might seem excessive.
However, an official of the Taichung’s Sports Bureau’s Sports Industry Division said that Taichung was hoping the new facility would help it regain its status as Taiwan’s main hub for holding international baseball events, which it lost to Taipei with the completion of the 35,000 to 40,000 seat Taipei Dome.
The official also said the stadium was necessary, because difficult weather conditions, such as rain or extremely high temperatures, made playing or watching games outdoors hard for players and fans.
One other factor in developing the complex was its potential in creating new commercial opportunities for local businesses, the official said.
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