Indoor Gymnasium with 5,000 Seats
Daegu City Unveils New City Hall Plan
Daegu City announced on the 7th that it explained the plan to build a dedicated arena for the Korea Gas Corporation professional basketball team next to the new Daegu City Hall, which is relocating to Duryu-dong, Dalseo-gu, to Daegu City Council members from Dalseo-gu and Dalseo-gu councilors.
In response to a request from Kim Yong-pan, a member of the People Power Party from Dalseo-gu, Daegu, who asked for an official explanation of Daegu City's plan for the new city hall construction, a meeting was held on the 6th at the People Power Party Daegu City Party Office, attended by Jeong Jang-su, Head of Policy Innovation Headquarters of Daegu City, and Kwon Oh-hwan, Director of the Urban Housing Bureau.
At the meeting, Head Jeong said, "The final plan presented by Daegu City has two major changes compared to the original plan announced in September last year."
First, reflecting the local residents' demand for expanding cultural and sports facilities, part of the site planned for the new city hall will be used to build a 5,000-seat indoor gymnasium dedicated to the Korea Gas Corporation professional basketball team (Pegasus) and a 4,500㎡ indoor sports facility for citizens' physical activities.
Second, to build these two cultural and sports facilities, the site planned for the new city hall will be expanded by 10,000㎡ from the original 68,000㎡ to 78,000㎡, while the idle land designated for sale will be reduced by 10,000㎡ from 90,000㎡ to 80,000㎡. This is the same site area as the new city hall construction plan promoted during the previous mayor's administration.
Head Jeong stated about the final plan, "Since the announcement of the new city hall construction plan in September last year, there have been various requests from local residents to supplement facilities that enhance convenience, such as cultural and sports facilities, and the mayor instructed to revise the plan reflecting these citizen opinions."
By constructing the dedicated gymnasium for the Gas Corporation professional basketball team included in the final plan, Daegu City will have dedicated stadiums for the three major professional sports (baseball, soccer, basketball). Outside the professional basketball season, the gymnasium can be used as a multipurpose indoor cultural space, and the 4,500㎡ indoor sports facility to be built together will serve as a year-round dedicated facility for citizens' sports activities.
Head Jeong emphasized, "The mayor's determination to build the new city hall on the old Duryu Water Purification Plant site, which was decided through a public consensus process, is firm. However, given Daegu City's financial condition, which is facing the worst situation, there is no way to secure construction funds without selling idle land." He clearly stated that selling the Seongseo Administrative Town, as suggested by some, is far from sufficient to secure construction funds and cannot be considered.
He also stressed, "The plan is to raise construction funds by selling part of the old Duryu Water Purification Plant site without touching the new city hall site at all. It is wrong to distort facts and divide public opinion as if part of the new city hall site is being sold."
Head Jeong said, "The first principle of Mayor Hong Jun-pyo's administration is financial soundness. The mayor's firm principle is not to build the new city hall by incurring debt. The construction plan presented today is the only alternative and the last proposal to proceed with the new city hall under the worst financial conditions." He added, "If the final plan is not accepted, it will be difficult to proceed with the new city hall construction during Mayor Hong Jun-pyo's term. We will wait for the consensus of local political circles and public opinion."
If the new city hall construction proceeds according to Daegu City's final plan, it is expected to accelerate without additional administrative procedures since the plan to build the city hall on a 78,000㎡ site was already approved by the Central Investment Review for Local Finance in March 2022.
Daegu City decided in 2019 to relocate the Daegu City Hall from Dongin-dong, Jung-gu, to the old Duryu Water Purification Plant site in Duryu-dong, Dalseo-gu. According to this plan, construction is scheduled to start in 2025 and be completed by 2028, after which the city hall will be relocated. However, when Mayor Hong Jun-pyo took office in July last year and proposed selling part of the Duryu Water Purification Plant site to repay Daegu City's debt, the city council and Dalseo-gu opposed, halting the relocation work.
On this day, Daegu City revealed the plan to build a dedicated arena for the Korea Gas Corporation professional basketball team while reducing the land area for debt repayment sales by 10,000㎡.
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