The Center of Chiayi City’s Cultural Development
The Chiayi City Cultural Center was officially opened on February 27 1993. Shisian Library, located in the West District of Chiayi City, is the West District Branch of Chiayi City Cultural Center, which was built under the city rezoning funds.
The Cultural Center is composed of three buildings and a beautiful garden; the whole cultural park occupies an area of over 5000 pings (16529 m2). The underground level is the Chiayi City Koji Pottery Museum, and exhibition rooms are set up for various displays from the first floor to the fourth floor. The library is planned with a reading room, the audio and visual room, and an archive. The music hall is equipped with special seats and a capacity of 1113 audience seats, and the stage curtain was fabricated in silk with the painting of master artist Lin Yu-Shan (林玉山), entitled Water Lily Pond.
The pond at the north side of the music hall was the timber pond used to store logs delivered by the Alishan Railway. Trees were planted during the Japanese Colonial Period, and they have now formed a small area of woods to shade the leisurely fishermen by the pond. “Fishing by the Cypress Pond” was one of the Eight Wonders of Jhuluo. Under the effort of city magistrate, Ms Zhang Bo-Ya, the pond was renovated to become a new recreational site while preserving the old memories of the timber pond.
