Members of the Losheng Youth Alliance and celebrity artists and intellectuals in Taiwan, ROC, have been calling on the Government to protect the Losheng Sanatorium, which has been damaged during excavation works for the construction of a maintenance depot for the new Xinzhuang MRT Line in Taipei. 

Proclaimed an historic monument in 2009, part of the Losheng Sanatorium was torn down to make space for a maintenance depot for a new Rapid Transport System. However, during works cracks appeared in the walls of the remaining buildings and damage was caused to the grounds, so the constructions works relating to the maintenance depot were halted in November 2011. It is claimed that land subsidence threatens Losheng. A long-term construction safety assessment is being conducted, the conclusions of which are expected for March 2012.

Since 2004 residents of the sanitorium and supporters of the Losheng Youth Alliance have been involved in preservation efforts of Losheng, which was built in 1930 to quarantine persons with leprosy during the Japanese colonial era. The Losheng Youth Alliance consulted engineers over an inspection report last year commissioned by Taipei City’s Department for the Rapid Transit System, which indicated that the site was unsuitable for construction.

 

 

Categories: News and Notes