Guildhall's destiny unclear
- Source: Global Times
- [08:47 March 31 2011]
- Comments
A construction worker rests during the renovation of the Zhongshan Guildhall Wednesday. Several parties have differing plans for the guildhall, leaving its future unclear. Photo: Li Yanhui/GT
By Li Yanhui
The fate of Xicheng district's Zhongshan Guildhall is up in the air, with conflicting plans proposed that range from using it for offices to establishing a Sun Yat-sen and Xinhai Revolution memorial museum there to mark the revolution's centenary. In the meantime, three families living in the guildhall refuse to leave over compensation issues.
Members of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Fu Huimin, chairman of the Beijing branch of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK) visited the Zhongshan Guildhall and proposed establishing a memorial museum at the site, the Renmin Zhengxie Bao, a newspaper run by the CPPCC, reported on Tuesday.
But the Beijing Electric Power Company, which rents the guildhall from the government, has been footing the bill for its renovation.
Many of the rooms are complete, but in one old pavilion, the residences of three families in the middle of the courtyard remain untouched.
"I have lived in the construction site for four years, but it's not because I was reluctant to leave. I just could not accept the compensation," a resident of the guildhall for 30 years surnamed Sun told the Global Times. His family received a relocation notice in 2006 offering compensation of 70,000 yuan ($10,673) total for his 26-square-meter home. Renovation work on the surrounding buildings began in 2007.
The guildhall was initially built during the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) by immigrants from Xiangshan county, Guangdong Province, to give people from the region a place to meet and live. It was later expanded in 1879.
Sun organized activities for the Xinhai Revolution from the guildhall in early 1912, and later organized the founding meeting of the Kuomintang in 1914, according to the Renmin Zhengxie Bao and the Beijing Daily.
"During the Cultural Revolution, many residents moved into the courtyard and settled down there," an officer surnamed Wang with power company told the Global Times Wednesday.
Authorities began the relocation of the more than 100 families living in the courtyard in 2005, the Beijing Times reported in October 2010.
Wang denied that a Sun Yat-sen and Xinhai Revolution memorial museum would be built in the guildhall.
"We are planning to build a new museum on the empty ground neighboring the guildhall courtyard to the south," Wang said. He would not reveal the plans for the guildhall itself.
