Taichung picks site for planned 30,000-seat 'Taichung Dome'

Taichung, May 28 (CNA) A multipurpose stadium with a seating capacity of over 30,000 will be built at the Shuinan Economic and Trade Park in Taichung, according to the city's mayor, Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕).

Speaking ahead of a city council meeting, Lu said the city had selected a site in the industrial park for the planned "Taichung Dome" (台中大巨蛋), which she said could host professional baseball games, large-scale concerts, and other events for more than 30,000 spectators.

Lu praised the 16.3-hectare venue at the Shuinan park in Xitun District, saying it was located at a "key node" of Taichung's public transportation network.

The Shuinan park is about a 20-minute walk from the two nearest mass rapid transit stations, roughly a 15-minute drive from Taiwan High Speed Rail's Taichung Station, and about 30 minutes by car from Taichung International Airport.

The city officially opened the bidding on Wednesday morning for private developers to submit their proposals for the venue over the next three months, the mayor said, noting that the planned facility could begin operations before 2030 if everything goes smoothly.

According to Taichung Sports Bureau head Yu Chih-hsiang (游志祥), the planned stadium, expected to cost more than NT$40 billion (US$1.33 billion) to build, will also include commercial facilities such as a shopping mall.

Yu added it would be carried out as a build-operate-transfer (BOT) project, a type of public-private partnership in which a private company finances, builds and operates a facility for a fixed period before transferring ownership back to the government.

The city government aims to finalize a contract next year, he said, stressing that the bidding process would be open and fair.

The BOT model is often used for major public infrastructure to reduce government spending and take advantage of private-sector expertise.

However, public concerns over BOT projects have grown in recent years due to corruption and misconduct investigations linked to some high-profile developments, including the Taipei Dome baseball stadium project in Taipei and the MeHAS City (美河市) housing project in New Taipei's Xindian District.

The planned "Taichung Dome," if realized, will become the third large-scale sports venue in the city, following the existing Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium, which can seat around 20,000 people, and the Taichung Arena (台中巨蛋), which began construction in June 2024.

The Taichung Arena, designed to host a range of sports events but not baseball games, will have a seating capacity of 15,500 and is estimated to cost NT$12.4 billion.

Given the existence of a baseball stadium and the launch of an indoor arena, building a large-scale dome for baseball and other major events in the central Taiwan city might seem excessive.

An official with the Sports Industry Division of Taichung's Sports Bureau told CNA, however, that Taichung was hoping the new facility would help it regain its status as Taiwan's main hub for holding international baseball events, which it recently lost to Taipei with the completion of the 35,000-40,000 seat Taipei Dome.

The official also said the stadium was necessary because difficult weather conditions, such as rain or extremely high temperatures, made playing or watching games outdoors hard for both players and fans.

One other factor in developing the complex, according to the official, was its potential importance in creating new commercial opportunities for local businesses.