The former Tainan Weather Observatory, which is now a museum, was reopened to the public yesterday after six months of restoration work, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
Established in 1898, the observatory was one of the few weather observation facilities built in the Japanese colonial era, the bureau said, adding that it is the nation’s oldest meteorological facility.
The observatory on Gongyuan Road is an uncommon octadecagonal structure with a tower protruding from its center, it said.
Photo copied by Wang Chun-chung, Taipei Times
Because of its artistic value, the observatory was designated a historical site by the Tainan City Government in 1998 and was upgraded to a national historical site in 2003.
However, its facade and tower were damaged during the Southern Taiwan earthquake in 2016 — a magnitude 6.4 earthquake centered in Kaohsiung’s Meinong District (美濃) that produced level 5 shaking in Tainan, the bureau said.
To preserve the site and ensure the safety of visitors, the bureau closed the facility to reinforce it and repair equipment used to observe the weather and detect earthquakes, it said.
Visitors yesterday were given the chance to see how a meteorologist in Japanese colonial-era Taiwan worked, with some allowed to climb the tower, which has equipment to measure wind speeds.
Chang Yu-huang (張玉煌), who was in charge of the restoration, introduced the key points of the work.
Meanwhile, the Southern Region Weather Center, which is next to the observatory, has refurbished in astronomical and maritime sections in its meteorological science exhibition hall on the fifth floor, the bureau said.
Admission to the observatory and exhibition halls are free, it said.
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