Changhua Railway Hospital

The Changhua Railway Hospital (Chinese: 彰化鐵路醫院; pinyin: Zhānghuà Tiělù Yīyuàn) is a building in Changhua City, Changhua County, Taiwan. It was completed in 1938 and opened as the restaurant Kaobinge. Between 1950 and 1984, the building served as a medical facility, taking the name Changhua Railway Hospital from 1971. The Changhua County Government named it a historic heritage site in 2011.

Changhua Railway Hospital
彰化鐵路醫院
Changhua Railway Hospital as photographed in 2011
Former namesKaobinge
General information
Architectural stylemodern
LocationChanghua City, Changhua County, Taiwan
AddressChenleng Road, No. 228
Coordinates24°4′46.9″N 120°32′19.0″E
Construction started1937
CompletedMay 1938
Renovated2016–2018
Renovation costNT$50 million
OwnerTaiwan Railways Administration
Technical details
Floor count2
Design and construction
ArchitectWei Lin-mu
DeveloperChang Shih-fan

History
An advertisement for Kaobinge published in 1942.[1]

Empire of Japan

On a visit to Taipei, Wang Bing-chi visited the Jiangshan Building.[2] After he returned to Changhua, Wang Bing-chi asked his father Wang Jung-tou and Yang Hsin-yen to finance a similar project in his hometown.[2] Further funded by a credit cooperative in Changhua, construction began in 1937. The second floor began construction on 13 January 1938, and the entire building was completed in May of that year. The project was led by a construction firm based in Changhua. The structure was designed by Chang Shih-fan. The lead architect was Wei Lin-mu.[2] The two-story building was built in a modern architecture style. A portion of the exterior resembles a ship.[3]

The building housed a restaurant, Kaobinge (高賓閣), which counted Loa Ho and Tu Tsung-ming as frequent patrons.[2][4][5][6] While Kaobinge was in business, the first floor served as a kitchen and staff living quarters.[2] Patrons were seated on the second floor, which included a stage.[2] Due to the Second Sino-Japanese War effort, Kaobinge became less profitable, and was closed roughly five years after it opened. The building was acquired by the Japanese-run predecessor of the Taiwan Railways Administration. Plans to make it a railway hospital were not immediately implemented, and the building alternately housed a dormitory and office building.[2]

Republic of China

In 1950, the building was repurposed as a medical facility. It became the Changhua Railway Hospital in 1971, which closed in 1984.[2][4][5] The premises were then leased to a wedding studio, followed by a cafe.[3][5]

In 2008, demolition of the building was discussed, to create a larger parking lot for Changhua railway station.[4][5] Three years later, the Changhua County Government's Cultural Affairs Bureau named the building a county-level historic heritage site.[3][5][6] A restoration project funded jointly by the Ministry of Culture, Changhua Cultural Affairs Bureau, and the Taiwan Railways Administration started in 2016 and was finished by 2018.[5]

References
  1. 臺灣總督府交通局鐵道部 (1942-02-21). 臺灣鐵道旅行案內. 社團法人東亞旅行社臺灣支部.
  2. 簡雪玲 (July 2012). 〈彰化縣縣定古蹟彰化鐵路醫院的前身——高賓閣〉《彰化藝文》56期. Changhua: Changhua County Cultural Affairs Bureau. pp. 16–21. ISSN 1813-3746.
  3. "彰化鐵路醫院(原高賓閣)" (in Chinese). Bureau of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture. Archived from the original on 2014-11-11. Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  4. 陳威廷 (2008-06-10). "鐵路醫院前身 賴和飲酒所在". United Daily News. p. C1 彰化．教育版.
  5. Shan, Shelley (24 September 2018). "Changhua former railway clinic restored at NT$50m". Taipei Times. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  6. "Storied past opens new doors for Changhua district". Taiwan Today. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.