| Title | Cheongju City goes beyond bringing people together towards convergence, emphasizing co-growth through cooperation. |
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| Writer | Division of Public Facilities |
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- Smooth sailing ahead with the approval for investment projects, groundbreaking for the Sangdang District Office Building and public notice for compensation of land in the Heungdeok Gu District Office
Cheongju City was divided into two in 1946, as part of the temporary military rule by the US. After four attempts to reunite the city, it was the citizens in the end that made it work, making the reunification the first ever in Korean legal history to be accomplished voluntarily by citizens. The former Cheongju City and Cheongwon Gun agreed on 75 items for co-growth. A symbolic project included in the items was the establishment of a new City Hall. The construction is going smoothly, contributing to making the local economy more vibrant while laying the growndworks for across-the-board growth. The project to build new office buildings for the city is for three areas, including the new City Hall building that would replace the delapidated and small former city hall building and the Sangdang Heungdeok Gu District Office that is required to be newly built as a result of re-drawing administrative borders. ▶ The construction of the City Hall building, a sumbol of reunification of Cheongju City = A total of 231.2 billion Won will be injected into the project. The site was expanded from north to south to encompass the area from Cheongsok Academical Institute to Chungbuk Honghyup Headquarters (site area of 28,450㎡), with a building area of 49,916㎡. The building will have two floors underground and 15 floors above ground. The City Hall building will be linked with the project to reinvigorate the old city center, with a scheduled completion date in 2023 and is expected to become a symbolic venue that represents the newly integrated city. The location of the building was selected among four candidate sites (Hakcheon landfill site, Sports Complex site, Daenong site and the current site of the existing City Hall) to which an outsourced research team narrowed down to. After taking into account the accessibility, convenience in transportation and balanced regional development, the area near the existing City Hall was selected in the end, but with a bit of adjustment to expand the site. The decision was made by the Committee for Reunification of the City. A feasibility study and basic composition study were done to establish the scale of the construction and budget required, once the venue was selected. The studies were outsourced and conducted in February, 2014 and the final approval from the Ministry of the Interior during its review for local governments’ investment projects that receive central government subsidies. The City is planning to start buying up the land in the later half of 2016, after gaining approval from the City Council on its plan to manage public assets. ▶ Establishment of a new City Hall building, the groundwork for co-growth = The project to build a new City Hall went through an outsourcing of studies, a town hall meeting to explain the concept to residents and counseling from experts as agreed upon in the items for co-growth. The Gu district of Sangdang in the end chose Hyochon-Ri, Namil-Myeon, while Heungdeok-Gu chose Sain-Ri, Kangnae-Myeon as the location. To determine details regarding the site, the City outsourced a study on the urban planning in February, 2014. As for the Gu Office for Sangdang-Gu, it was decided that it will be located within the site owned by the city in Hyochon-Ri, Namil-Myeon (a land area of 45,882㎡) , while the Heongdeok-Gu Office was decided to be located on a site the majority of which encompasses city-owned property. The project is currently under way. The Sangang-Gu Office had its groundbreaking on June 21 and the work is going on smoothly since. The south gate of Sangdang castle walls served as an inspiration in the design that reflects the unique history and culture of Sangdang-Gu that is off to a new start. A construction budget of 38 billion Won will be poured into the project that will build a building of five stories above ground and one floor unerground, with a total building area of 19,488㎡. The building will house administrative offices, cultural classes, daycare center for children, a performance hall with 300 seats and a multi-purpose sports center. It is slated to open in February, 2018. After a feasibility study, Heungdeok Gu office building gained approval from the Chungcheongbuk Province in February of this year in the review for investment projects, followed by the final approval on the management plan for public assets in May, and made public on July 15 the compensation plan for lands that would be purchased by the city. Later this year a design competition will be held and the compensation will be wrapped up by the end of 2017. Groundbreaking will take place during the first half of 2018 and the building will finally be open to the public during the second half of 2019. ▶ Smooth construction of the building by securing stable financial resources = In December, 2015, the City received 50 billion Won in subsidies from the central government to help with autonomous reunification of the city. This was hard-won as a result of the persistence shown by the citizens of Cheongju who visited central government offices to persuade government officials of the city’s eligibility for the subsidies. To secure stable financial resources in building out the project, special ordinances to establish a fund for the new office building was legislated in May of 2015 so that a yearly amount would be deposited into the fund. At present, a total of 74 billion Won has been deposited into the fund. Recently, the City has been discussing among relevant divisions to minimize budgetary burden. A representative of the city mentioned that “the establishment of a new official building is a pet project for all Cheongju citizens and will also serve to boost the city’s status as a hub city in the middle region of the Korean Peninsula. Once the new City Hall, the Sangdang Gu Office and the Heungdeok Gu Office are completed, they will further boost the pride of 850,000 citizens of Cheongju. We kindly ask for the citizens’ support and cooperation on this project so that Cheongju can become one of the leading cities in Korea.”. Inquiries : New office building construction team, Division of Public Facilities (☎201-2572) |
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| 이전글 | Woojin Kim, an archery athlete on the team of Cheongju City, wins the gold medal at the Rio Olympics |
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| 다음글 | Cheongju City focuses all efforts on creating a city where women feel safe. |