Chuncheon’s latest redevelopment project, which is set to take place sometime this year, will see a multi-purpose park built on the site of former U.S. Army Camp Page, which used to occupy some 590,000 square meters of land. (Image: Yonhap)
CHUNCHEON, Jan. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – The Chuncheon city government’s development plans for land previously occupied by a U.S. Army base are back on track after years of struggle.
Chuncheon’s latest redevelopment project, which is set to take place sometime this year, will see a multi-purpose park built on the site of former U.S. Army Camp Page, which used to occupy some 590,000 square meters of land.
Since Camp Page was shut down in 2005, the site has been left as a wasteland, while in dire need of redevelopment.
While the city of Chuncheon obtained ownership of the land in 2012 after promising to pay 121.7 billion won over a period of five years, reaching an agreement on the direction of development has proven to be a challenge.
In addition, the excessive development cost of nearly 160 billion won became a hindrance to the planning of the project.
Recently, however, the city government managed to bring the cost down to 90 billion won, then to 65 billion won, slashing projected expenditures by nearly 95 billion won after canceling some of the facilities scheduled to be built on the site.
As the redevelopment project is set to launch sometime during the first half of this year, the Chuncheon city government will make announcements and hold hearings for local residents in an effort to inform the local community and receive feedback.
In the meantime, the local government hopes to apply for approval from the Gangwon Provincial Government sometime around June for the park project, which will also have performance stages, lawns, and tree-lined streets.
Taking center stage is a 10 billion won musical fountain, which is slated to be among the main attractions.
The Chuncheon city government’s development plans for land previously occupied by a U.S. Army base are back on track after years of struggle. (Image: Yonhap)
While the detailed plans for the project will be released over time, it has been widely speculated that Chuncheon is poised to use this high-cost project to build a landmark to boost the local tourism industry.
“It has taken a while until now to reflect opinions from local citizens and reduce the cost as much as possible. We are gearing towards initiating the project this year,” a Chuncheon government official said.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
