Changwon Museum Construction Gains Momentum... Ministry of the Interior Feasibility Study Deems It "Appropriate"

Aerial view of Changwon Museum.
Photo by Changwon City

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Ju-cheol In] The feasibility study for the construction project of Changwon Museum in Gyeongnam has been positively concluded, giving momentum to the project to create a representative cultural landmark of Changwon Special City.

Changwon City announced on the 13th that the feasibility study for the Changwon Museum construction project by the Local Investment Project Management Center of the Korea Institute of Public Administration has been completed.

According to the results notified by the institute to the city, the average willingness to pay (WTP) in the economic survey was 9,335 KRW. WTP refers to the price of additional taxes citizens are willing to pay for the implementation of the project.

The Public Investment Development Management Center of the Gyeongnam Research Institute, which provided advisory services for the construction of Changwon Museum, explained that a WTP exceeding 9,000 KRW is an indicator of the high interest of citizens in the construction of Changwon Museum. They added that the WTP for public museums is usually around 500 to 1,000 KRW.

In addition, the city explained that the project received favorable evaluations in terms of policy feasibility and operational balance, due to securing sufficient exhibition content and establishing plans for operating revenue-generating facilities.

Based on this feasibility study, the city plans to request a local finance investment review from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. If the investment review passes around March next year, construction is planned to start in 2023 and the museum is expected to be completed in 2025. The city intends to do its best to ensure the investment review passes on the first attempt to avoid project delays.

The city is considering building a comprehensive museum with one basement floor and three above-ground floors (total floor area of 14,748㎡) at 159-1 Jungang-dong, Seongsan-gu, with a total project cost of 71.4 billion KRW (including 40% national funding).

Heo Seong-mu, mayor of Changwon City, said, “The feasibility study results exceeded the initially expected target figures, securing the justification for project promotion,” and added, “We will prepare so that the local finance investment review passes on the first try and do our best to ensure the overall project schedule is not delayed.”

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