An aquarium in Taichung’s Cingshui District (清水) that started development more than a decade ago under then-Taichung mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) still has no animals and has not opened, Taichung City Councilor Yang Tien-chung (楊典忠) said on Sunday.
Under Hu, the aquarium was initially envisioned as a penguin conservation center and later an Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin conservation center, Yang said.
“When Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) became mayor, the city pushed for its development as a jellyfish conservation center, and then as an all-purpose aquarium,” Yang said. “With only a year and four months left in Lu Shiow-yen’s (盧秀燕) first term as mayor, there is still not even a single egg in the place.”
Photo: Tang Tsai-hsin, Taipei Times
Taichung Tourism and Travel Bureau Director Han Yu-chi (韓育淇) said that operations of the site would be taken over by Nan Ren Hu Entertainment Co, which operates the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium in Pingtung County’s Checheng Township (車城).
Although the Taichung aquarium would face competition from Xpark Aquarium in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) — which opened in August last year and has jellyfish and penguin enclosures — the Taichung City Government would work with Nan Ren Hu to ensure that its facility would offer people a unique experience, Han said.
However, Yang was skeptical.
“The thing is not even open yet and it is already rusting — it is painful to see,” he said.
The city on six occasions had failed to secure a bidder to operate the facility, Yang said, adding that he doubted a proposed opening in the fourth quarter next year would be possible.
The initial construction budget was NT$350 million (US$12.56 million), which was increased to NT$570 million when Lin decided that it should be an all-purpose marine conservation center, Yang said.
In 2018, the city invested an additional NT$250 million to build animal enclosures so that it could be an aquarium, he said.
“Following several unsuccessful attempts to find a bidder for the build-operate-transfer project, Nan Ren Hu in July stepped in after adjustments were made to the contract,” he said.
Taichung in April and June spent another NT$42.6 million on the facility, he said.
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