City government to ask Taipei Dome operator to tackle water leakage problem

Taipei, April 2 (CNA) The Taipei City government will ask Farglory Group, builder and operator of the Taipei Dome, to address unresolved water leaks at different locations in the stadium and plans to include related construction deficiencies in its annual operational evaluation scheduled for early 2025, according to a city official.

Water leaks have occurred at several sporting events held at the Taipei Dome since late last year, including on Dec. 3, 2023, the second day of the BFA Asian Baseball Championship.

Another leak was reported during the first of two exhibition baseball game between the CTBC Brothers and the Yomiuri Giants from Japan in early March.

On March 31, water leaked from the roof onto the second-floor of the left outfield seating area during a CPBL baseball game between the Weichuan Dragons and CTBC Brothers, forcing dozens of fans to move to another area.

Asked to comment on the issue, Wang Hung-shiang (王泓翔), head of the Taipei Department of Sports, said that according to the Taipei Dome construction and operation contract, the city government is required to undertake an annual operational performance evaluation one year after the stadium started official operations on Feb. 2, 2024.

Wang said that an evaluation team is expected to be established by the end of this year and will likely conduct a performance assessment in the first half of next year, with all structural flaws in the Taipei Dome reported this year included in the evaluation scoring system.

The assessment items include contract fulfillment, level of satisfaction with stadium operations, as well as environment management and maintenance and equipment maintenance and repair, according to Wang.

If Farglory scores less than 70 points out of 100 for two consecutive years, its performance will be deemed poor and that would constitute a breach of contract, Wang said.

He added that the city government will ask Farglory to make improvements within a fixed time period and if it fails to do so, financial institutions could be allowed to temporarily take over, or discontinue part or all the operations. In the most serious scenario, it can terminate the contract.

However, Wang said it is unlikely the Taipei Dome operator will receive a poor performance evaluation for the water leaks because such leaks are common in newly constructed buildings and do not affect public safety despite inconveniencing fans.

Wang said the local government will urge Farglory to actively and thoroughly deal with the leaks.

However, he noted that according to the contract, water leaks do not constitute an operational deficiency and the city government cannot fine Farglory over the issue.