Taichung Mayor firm on delivering behindhand arena

Article posted by Coliseum, March 11^th, 2020

Image: travel.taichung.gov.tw

There have been a lot of feet dragging over the Taichung Arena project in Taiwan which was planned way back in 2018. Now, the Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen has vowed that construction on the NT$6.5bn (£165.7m/€196.8m/$214.2m) arena would begin during her term.

Lu Shiow-yen is the Mayor of Taichung since December 25, 2018, and holds a four-year term.

To this end, the Taichung City Government announced recently that it has issued public tenders for a procurement project for the Taichung Arena, a multi-purpose domed stadium to be built in the city’s Beitun District. Construction is slated to start in 2022 and will end by 2026.

The tender process has been launched to secure a design and planning team for the development of the new 15,500-capacity arena.

Taichung Arena is part of the effort to transform Taichung into a major sporting city. It will be built on a 6.9 hectare plot close to the Intercontinental Baseball Stadium in Beitun District. Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium has been announced as one of the five venues for the 2021 World Baseball Classic.

The stadium will seat 15,500 spectators and would be built in line with international standards to host sports events such as basketball, volleyball, badminton, futsal, and combat sports. This was disclosed by the Taichung Housing Development Department.

The stadium would also host cultural events and concerts, too, it added.

The World Baseball Classic is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation in partnership with the Major League Baseball (MLB).

Two public briefing sessions on the tender process was held in Taichung and Taipei last month to select the pick of design and planning team for the project, the department further disclosed.

The tender process would begin with a first-round document review, following which five bidders would be selected to enter the second-round evaluation to decide the winner of the contract, the department sources further said, adding that the other four bidders would be compensated for reaching the second round.

The bidding team structure must meet specified standards laid down under the Building Act and bidders must be represented by practicing design firms in Taiwan, but incorporating foreign suppliers in the team is encouraged, the department further made it clear.

The online applications are open until March 31, it added.

Construction has long got delayed during the term of the present Mayor.

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