Occupying 67 hectares, the Taichung Central Park is 2.58 times larger than the area of the Daan Forest Park in Taipei. There were dozen thousands of trees planted in the Taichung Central Park and facilities for 12 sensory experiences, smart street lamps and sensors were equipped to realize the "low-carbon, smart and innovative" concept. The Park was scheduled to open on December 6th. On that day, the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and Paper Windmill Theater were especially invited to perform and additionally, there will be markets for cultural and creative products, produce and gourmet foods. 500 bundles of dancing-doll orchids and 6,000 herb plants will be given to the participants who come together to witness the opening of the Park.
The Construction Bureau today (the 27th) held the opening press conference for the Park and awarded the winners of the Park sketching and photography contests. On the site, 41 pieces of outstanding works were showcased and fun and interactive opening performances of the Paper Windmill Theater were presented attracting a huge crowd. The Secretary General of the Taichung City Government, Huang Tsung-Dian, said it took almost ten years for the French landscape designer, Catherine Mosbach, the Swiss Architect, Philippe Rahm and Taiwan’s famous architect, Ricky Liu, to jointly complete the design of the Taichung Central Park. On the opening ceremony scheduled on December 6th, they will be invited to witness the opening of the Park.
Additionally, performances of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra and the Paper Windmill Theater were arranged to present the program of "the Birth of the Park." 115 stands featuring Taichung's unique cultural and creative products, produce and gourmet foods and 6,000 seats were prepared for the public's one-day tour to the Central Park.
Director-General of the Construction Bureau, Chen Ta-Tian said the opening of the Central Park is a great event in Taichung and in July, the Taichung City Government especially organized sketching and photography contests at the Park to invite the public to portray the beauty of the Central Park with painting pens and cameras. Within just one month, 113 and 180 pieces of sketching and photography works, respectively, were submitted and he would like to thank the participation of the contestants. He would like to appreciate the support of the Taichung Parents’ Association of All-Around Education who sponsored the contest promotion on campuses and donated the cash prize of NT$40,000 to encourage contestants.
Director-General Chen pointed out that the Central Park occupies 67 hectares and is about 2.58 times Daan Forest Park in Taipei. The Park not only conserved its original 1,000 trees but also planted additional 10,000 native trees. With five detention ponds planned and three featured recreational, parent-child and sports walk paths with a total length of 2.5 meters that vertically linked the Park from north to south, visitors can enjoy themselves at the park without worrying about vehicles that drive from the horizontal direction. Furthermore, 12 facilities of sensual experiences, smart sensors, smart street lamps and solar panels covering the area of10,000 pings were installed, making the Park a low-caron, smart and innovative one and is "the Lung of Taichung."
Attendees of today’s opening press conference of the Central Park included, Secretary General Huang, Director General of the Construction Bureau, Chen Tai-Tien, Director General of the Civil Affairs Bureau, Wu Shi-Wei, Director General of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Chang Ta-Chun, Director General of the Social Affairs Bureau, Peng Hui-Chen, Director General of the Finance Bureau, Lo Hsien-Fa, Commissioner of Council for Hakka Affairs, Chiang Chun-Lung, President of the Taichung Parents’ Association of All-Around Education, Chen Chao-Shu, Director of Paper Windmill Theater, Ren Chien-Cheng.