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Reuse of the Flora Exposition Hall: EXPO Dome takes on a new lease of life as a convention and exhibition center

During its half-year duration from November 6th, 2010 to April 25th, 2011, the 2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition attracted nearly 9 million visitors (8,963,666), breaking the records for attendance of events in Taiwan.

To leverage its practical functionality and fully realize its value, the venues and facilities of the exposition will either be continuously used as what they are or converted for other uses. The EXPO Dome will be turned into a convention and exhibition center. Other structures to be preserved or converted will be the Fine Arts Park Area, EXPO Hall, Pavilion of Aroma of Flowers inside the Yuanshan Park Area, and the Pavilion of Future, and the Pavilion of Dreams. These will be joined with a newcomer – the Taipei Pavilion from the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai – which is being reassembled and reopened in September this year. The Pavilion of Angel Life in the Xinsheng Park Area will also be retained. Thus the Flora Exposition will remain in Taipei as the Flora Expo Park, which will ensure the appeal and beauty of the Expo will be preserved for a long time to come.

The Expo Dome in Yuanshan Park Area, now under the administration of the Industrial Development Board (IDB), Taipei City Government, has been turned into a convention and exhibition center. The first event the centre played host to was the 2011 Taipei Food Festival World Championship of Cookery, which was held from May 26^th to 30^th in Taipei. According to the Taiwan Innovation Convention and Exhibition Co., Ltd., the organizer of the event, the event took up a total exhibition area of ​​10,006 square meters, included 140 stands, and attracted nearly 1,000 distinguished international guests and 15,000 people from Taiwan. The exhibition calendar of the Expo Dome, according to an IDB spokesperson, has been completely filled until the end of November this year.

The Expo Theatre, Pavilion of Culture and Celebrity’s House, which are all attached to the Yuanshan Park Area, are now returned to operation under the management of the Taipei Municipal Children's Recreation Center. The Expo Theatre will continue to show the 3D Movie, “The Truth About Taiwan,” in the latter half of 2011, while the Pavilion of Culture will be used to exhibit the cultural relics of folk customs and practices. Hall B will be a puppet theater and Celebrity’s House is to be used for the display of Mongolian and Tibetan cultural relics.

The Butterfly Pavilion in Fine Arts Park Area has been taken over by the IDB. At least seven events are scheduled to take place there in the second half of this year. The Pavilion of Aroma of Flowers, a pavilion with a strong indigenous flavor, will be taken over by the Aboriginal Association and will be developed into an aboriginal arts and crafts exhibition and sales center, as well as a platform for developing the aboriginal cultural industry. Since both the Fine Arts Museum and Story House are older buildings in need of redevelopment, they have been returned respectively to the Taipei Fine Arts Museum and the Taipei Cultural Affairs Bureau. The Story House was reopened on May 10^th. The Pavilion of Regimen at Xinsheng Park Area was returned to the park administration for use as office premises. The tea house, now under the Bureau of Civil Affairs, has been renamed as Lin-An-Tai Mansion Folk Museum and Min-style Garden and is expected to be opened in July. Admission will be charged.

The Pavilion of Angel Life, Pavilion of Future, and Pavilion of Dreams in the Xinsheng Park Area are three newly built exhibition halls. Pavilion of Angel Life has now been placed under the operation and maintenance of the Angel Life Gallery for a period of 9 years, while the Pavilion of Future is in the possession of IDB. The 1^st floor space to be used for a botanical display scheduled to open in late July, and the 2^nd floor will accommodate the Taipei Pavilion of the World Expo 2010 which will open in September. The Pavilion of Dreams, now under the administration of the Department of Finance, is expected to open in mid to late July after maintenance is completed. The exhibition items will be similar to those put on display during the Flora Exposition. To ensure that the quality of the facilities and structures is maintained, the Pavilions of Dreams, Pavilion of Future, and the Taipei Pavilion of the World Expo 2010 will implement a fee charging system with the ticket of entry to each Pavilion priced at less than US$3 (NT$100); the combined 3-Pavilion entry ticket will cost US$5 (NT$150).

Since May 7^th, 2011, Yuanshan Transport Square between the Yuanshan MRT Station and the Art Gallery, the Sea of Flowers in the Park Area, and the greeneries inside the Xinsheng Park Area (except for the exhibition halls) have all open to the public. Since the Dajia Riverside Park area is located within a flood plain area, from May 20^th, it will be restored as the original Riverside Park and open for public use and access. The rest of the open space which was used for the Flora Exposition (the main entrance area in front of the Yuanshan Park used during the Flora Exposition, the Sea of Flowers, Rare Flowers and Plants, Flower Wall, Flora Rainbows, Fine Arts Park area, “Lights and Shadows” Floral Tunnel, the entrance structure in front of Xinsheng Park, the greenery areas of the Flower Base Under Trees, Serenity Garden, Garden Maze, etc.) will all be open to the public free of charge after restoration and reorganization work. These steps will ensure that the beauty of the Flora Expo will continue to bloom, linger and last.

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