Mapo-gu, Completion of Gongdeok-dong New Office Building in 2026

Published 30 Apr.2024 07:03(KST)

Mapo-gu and Gongdeok 1 District Housing Reconstruction Maintenance Association Sign Agreement for Gongdeok-dong Community Center Construction on the 29th
Existing Gongdeok-dong Community Center to Be Used as a Detailed Customized Welfare Center for Future Welfare Services
Park Gang-su, District Mayor, “Secured New Gongdeok-dong Office Building to Fulfill Residents' Long-Standing Wish...Thanks to Gongdeok 1 District Association for Mapo Residents”

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo District (left), and Moon Kyung-rae, President of the Gongdeok 1 District Reconstruction Association

The Mapo-gu Gongdeok-dong Community Service Center is scheduled to relocate to the site within the Gongdeok 1 District Reconstruction Maintenance Project area (Ahyeon-dong 418-6) and is expected to be completed by 2026.

Mapo-gu (Mayor Park Gang-su) announced that after several practical consultations with the Gongdeok 1 District Reconstruction Maintenance Association, the Gongdeok 1 District General Assembly approved the decision on the community center site at the end of March, and on the afternoon of April 29, a final ‘Gongdeok-dong Community Service Center Construction Agreement’ was signed with the association.

The Gongdeok-dong Community Service Center, completed 32 years ago, oversees resident services for a total of 37,000 people, including Gongdeok-dong, part of Sin-gongdeok-dong, and Ahyeon-dong. While the Gongdeok area has transformed into a large-scale residential area and a key business district through redevelopment projects, the Gongdeok-dong office building has long faced complaints about being cramped and inconvenient to use.

A district official added, “The Gongdeok-dong office is the only one among the 16 district community centers without an elevator, making it difficult for the elderly and disabled to use. It is also located on a hill leading to Mallijae Pass, which reduces accessibility and convenience for residents.”

Accordingly, Mapo-gu has promoted the construction of a new Gongdeok-dong community center, a long-standing wish of residents, as a core pledge of the 8th local government administration. Initially, relocation to a public office site within Gongdeok 7 District was considered, but after careful consideration, the direction was shifted to Gongdeok 1 District, where redevelopment completion is faster and the site is flat, making it easier for the elderly to access.

The agreement ceremony for the Gongdeok-dong new community center was held on the 29th at the planned site (Ahyeon-dong 418-6), attended by about 100 people including Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, the head of the Gongdeok 1 District association, Gongdeok-dong residents, and media reporters.

The main contents of the agreement include ▲ mutual consultation and decision on the location, area, and scale of the new community center site ▲ provision of the public office construction site by the project implementer ▲ financial support from Mapo-gu for the construction of the public office, among a total of nine clauses.

On the day, Moon Kyung-rae, head of the Gongdeok 1 District association, received great applause when he said about the background of the agreement, “The Gongdeok 1 District reconstruction project would have been impossible without the understanding and support of Mapo-gu and Gongdeok-dong residents,” and “Knowing that Mayor Park Gang-su is putting great effort into building the Gongdeok-dong new community center, we wanted to contribute and repay with a sense of responsibility for the development of Gongdeok-dong and Mapo-gu.”

The district plans to secure external funds such as special grants and special subsidies along with the district budget to complete the construction of the Gongdeok-dong new community center by the end of 2026. The existing Gongdeok-dong Community Service Center building will be repurposed as the ‘Silppuri Welfare Center’ to provide detailed customized welfare services.

Thus, the district will be able to accelerate the construction of a new community center that all local residents can use comfortably and conveniently while saving the enormous budget required to secure the construction site.

At the agreement ceremony on the 29th, Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “I am truly pleased that the residents’ wish for the construction of the Gongdeok-dong new community center has taken its first step toward resolution through public-private cooperation,” and “I deeply thank the Gongdeok 1 District Reconstruction Association for approving the site decision with one heart for the residents of Mapo-gu, and Mapo-gu will spare no administrative support for the smooth progress of the Gongdeok 1 District Reconstruction Maintenance Project.”