Gwangju Seo-gu 'Complex Community Center' Construction Kicks Off

Perspective view of the Gwangju Seo-gu Complex Community Center. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City Seo-gu Office

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Seo-gu District Office of Gwangju Metropolitan City (District Mayor Seo Daeseok) is set to fully launch the construction of the ambitiously planned ‘Seo-gu Complex Community Center.’

The complex community center to be built in Pungam-dong will have a total project cost of 20.6 billion KRW and aims for completion in March 2022. It will be constructed with a total floor area of 5,595㎡, spanning from the 1st floor to the 4th floor above ground.

The center will house the second senior welfare center dedicated to enhancing the welfare of elderly residents in the large-scale housing development areas of Pungam, Geumho, and Yeomju-dong.

Additionally, a local culture library and a music-specialized performance hall will be established to effectively meet the diverse cultural and knowledge information needs of local residents.

The center’s construction, initially planned in 2016 as a senior comprehensive welfare center, expanded to include a music-specialized performance hall and a local library due to residents’ demands, increasing the area from 4,500㎡ to 6,600㎡.

As a result of the increased project scope, land acquisition and construction costs naturally rose to 20.3 billion KRW, and additional related procedures caused delays in project progress.

Due to the project site’s location within Central Park, unavoidable delays occurred during the review by the Gwangju City Urban Park Committee and the approval process for the urban planning facility implementation plan. However, during the detailed design phase, services such as barrier-free environment planning, preliminary disaster impact assessment, and economic feasibility review of the design were conducted.

Administrative procedures including park development changes, BF review, local construction technology review, contract review, and land expropriation also contributed to project delays, but Seo-gu made multifaceted efforts to ensure stable project progress while strictly adhering to relevant regulations.

The complex community center, which proceeded through a design competition, selected a design firm and completed detailed design in October 2018. Although waste was discovered during project implementation, design changes such as building location and floor adjustments were finalized through consultations with related experts, and construction resumed last month.

In particular, after multiple consultations with the design firm, construction management team, and contractor, the original design firm acknowledged some faults and agreed to proceed with design changes at minimal service fees.

During the design change process, Seo-gu shortened the construction period by more than two months and devised a plan to reduce additional construction costs by over 3 billion KRW.

Seo-gu expects that the construction of the complex community center will help alleviate inconvenience for residents of Pungam, Geumho, and Yeomju areas by distributing users currently concentrated in the Seo-gu Senior Comprehensive Welfare Center, Seo-gu Cultural Center, and Sangnok Library.

With support for various complex programs, it is also anticipated to contribute to cultural and welfare enhancement and the establishment of a cultural foundation for popularizing performing arts through securing a professional performance hall via the new cultural center.

A Seo-gu official stated, “Once the complex community center is established, it is expected to become a new cultural welfare cluster in Seo-gu along with the surrounding Pungam Sports Park, Seo-gu National Sports Center, and Children’s Ecological Library. We will strive to ensure that over 120,000 nearby residents, artists, and elderly can comfortably enjoy welfare enhancement, cultural needs fulfillment, and access to knowledge and information through the center’s multifunctional facilities.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.