CITY VISION:Ambitious plans to reinvigorate property around Taipei Main Station with museums, hotels and offices were first put forward in 2014, but to little effect

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 29, 2016
By: Aaron Tu and Jake Chung / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Taipei City Government on Monday next week is scheduled to reopen bidding for contractors to develop the area near Taipei Main Station — stretching from the site of the old city council building, and Taipei’s North Gate (北門) — to create a “museum strip” to cultivate a sense of cultured arts in the area, Taipei Deputy Mayor Charles Lin (林欽榮) said.

The project would establish more than six museums. Using paraphernalia from the old city hall building as the main exhibit, the site would become the Taipei City Vision Museum, Lin said, adding that the Beimen post office would become the Post Office Affairs Museum; the old Directorate-General of Highways Building — a city-designated heritage site — would become a photography museum; and the Mitsui Warehouse (三井倉庫) would become a museum of “memories.”

The sixth museum would be on rail transport, using the headquarters of railways building under the Japanese colonial government, Lin said.

The city government also said it planned to turn the pedestrian land bridge near the old city council building into a sightseeing destination.

In addition, the Taipei Department of Finance said low-level buildings would become part of the City Vision Museum project and headquarters for various non-governmental organizations, and mid-rise to tall buildings would become hotels or office buildings.     [FULL  STORY]