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| The entrance of a bridge that connects two of the floating islands on the Han River in Seoul is roped off to visitors on Saturday. By Park Sang-moon |
Last June, when fur-clad Fendi models walked down the runway on a floating island on the Han River, citizens complained the public project was turning into an exclusive venue for the “haves.”
As it floats now, the floating islands aren’t really working for anybody, privileged or not.
In May 2011, the floating islands, the first completed piece of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Han River Renaissance Project, were unveiled to the public after five years of construction.
The city government said the new Floating Island project, which is made of three separate but connected man-made islands, would be the capital’s landmark and would attract more tourists and improve the general quality of life for citizens.
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| Only a few lights are turned on in the facilities of the floating islands due to lack of activities on Jan. 14. According to the initial plan, the islands are supposed to light up from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. By Park Sang-moon |
However, only seven months after completion, the islands are largely uninhabited - entrance doors of three facilities are chained shut and a sign for a coffee house rolls on the floor inside a locked building.
In early January, when the Korea JoongAng Daily visited, only a couple of people poked around the islands, but soon left, grumbling at the islands’ bleak conditions.
“It looks like it is totally abandoned,” said Kim Yang-tae, a Gangdong District resident. “I heard that the observatory is open to the public, but I might have heard wrong.”
Big plans
Several construction projects that were ambitiously begun by former Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon with the intention of creating landmarks and a better ecological environment have been halted or delayed due to political changes occurring in late 2011, though at least a trillion won have been spent so far.
In 2006, the former Seoul mayor unveiled a series of large-scale construction projects, including the Han River Renaissance, West Sea Waterway, Seoul Design Street and Dongdaemun Design Plaza, which were collectively named “Design Seoul.” The city government has budgeted about 1.56 trillion won ($1.39 billion) for these projects and has already spent 867.6 billion won as of August 2011, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
The Floating Island and Dongdaemun Design Plaza are already completed or nearing completion, but the city government has not been able to provide specific business plans since new Mayor Park Won-soon replaced Oh in October.
In the last couple of weeks, the Korea JoongAng Daily has asked the city government and its affiliated agencies about the plan, but officials in the city government and its agencies have uniformly provided the same answer, that “the city government is currently discussing adjusting the business plans for the two projects by forming a special committee that is composed of civil experts, but we can’t clarify when the new plan will be released.”
The floating islands were completed in September and were planned to be open for business at the same time, but the project has been delayed twice as it is having trouble in selecting a subcontractor to manage the businesses, including the cafeteria and coffee shop. Dongdaemun Design Plaza, which is supposed to be completed this July, has also been delayed one year as the city government has allocated only half of the necessary funds.
“The city government should provide clear and improved business plans for the projects as soon as possible,” Professor Kim Sei-yong of the Department of Architecture at Korea University told the Korea JoongAng Daily. “Leaving the invested projects behind would be another waste of money.”
Who floated the funding?
The majority of the Floating Island project was funded by private investors, who pooled a total of 96.4 billion won, and the project was carried out by Flossom, an urban development company based in Seoul, but SH Corporation - a firm owned by the government and financed through tax dollars that builds infrastructure and affordable housing projects - owns 29 percent of the company’s share, worth 13 billion won.
The rest of the funding for the project, about 83 billion won, is shared by Hyosung Group, a large conglomerate, and Chinhung Corporation, an urban development corporation and an affiliation of Hyosung Group.
When the Korea JoongAng Daily visited the 96.4 billion won worth of islands, they were sitting totally neglected in front of shiny office towers.
Vending machines that were supposed to be filled with canned beverages were empty, and trash, including advertising posters and empty beverage bottles, littered the floor.
Foot bridges that connect the three islands were dismantled, and signs reading “access denied” hung from each bridge. For managing 20,382 square meters (5.03 acres), only two security guards - one at the main gate for a parking ticket booth and the other at the biggest building - were managing the entire island complex.
Parts of the islands were open, including the observatory and trails, in May, but were shut down after the heavy rains of last July and August.
The bridges were dismantled as the Paldang Dam discharged more than 3,000 tons of water during the time, and the islands had to shut down for 73 days last year due to the rising river.
The city government said that the primary safety problem occurs during summer monsoon season. If the Han River floods, then debris in the water could hit the bridges and cause damage. In order to prevent possible damage, the city government said, the bridges should float, because then they can be easily dismantled when the river rises.
However, the Flossom Corporation’s management wants to keep the islands open during the peak season.
“We’ve decided to change the floating-type bridges to stationary in order to secure more business days in the summer and improve the safety conditions,” Kim Bum-soo, a manager of the Flossom Corporation said. “We’ve submitted a change of design for the bridges and are currently waiting for authorization from the city government.”
Management hunt
In addition, the islands also had to delay the official opening day twice - in September and December - as it has had trouble selling management rights.
Kim said that they will finish the construction in April and also select management as soon as possible. The construction for the new bridges will cost 6 billion won.
“It won’t be that easy,” said Oh Seung-rok, a Democratic Party lawmaker. “They should start the construction work if they want to open it in April because they need at least three to four months for the work. It must be also hard to sell the management rights because the business value of the island is still questionable.”
Oh added that the possibility of delaying the opening until September is high if they don’t begin construction by the end of January.
“Another delay means that the project that had used 13 billion won of citizens’ tax money is in danger of being shut down for one year,” Oh said.
However, the Seoul Regional Construction and Management Administration, a government agency under the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, hasn’t approved the new design for the bridges.
“We haven’t agreed on the new design due to safety issues that might occur if the stationary bridges are built,” Lee Seung-hak, an official of the administration told the Korea JoongAng Daily.
Meanwhile, the city government signed an adjusted contract with Flossom, extending its ownership of business licenses for the islands from 25 years to 30 years, on Jan. 19. The city government said that it extended the contract as it wanted to balance the loss that is being generated by the delays.
The contract, however, later was criticized by Mayor Park as he is strongly against the island project. The city government said that Park actually signed the contract but wasn’t fully informed of the contract details by his officials.
Park pointed to the city government officials’ poor reporting system and ordered an inquiry of how it really happened.
More projects to finish
The Dongdaemun Design Plaza, another major piece of the Design Seoul project proposed by former Mayor Oh, has been under construction since 2009 and is now about 70 percent complete. The plaza was supposed to be completed by July of this year and expected to open in early 2013, but the plan was postponed for a year as the city government has allocated only half of the budget.
The city government said it needs 152.1 billion won for 2012 to complete the construction as scheduled, but right now only has 72 billion won. Due to the delay, about 9.2 billion won of additional expense, which includes personnel expenses and management and storage cost for equipment, is needed.
“The [construction] progress is slowing down since the new mayor has taken office,” a worker at the construction site said. The city government said that the budget for Dongdaemun Design Plaza isn’t fully allocated as it has decided to improve the content that will fill the plaza’s exhibition halls.
“If the contents inside the facility get changed, it is possible the interior will also change,” Cha Jae-woon, the manager of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza told the Korea JoongAng Daily. “It may cost additional fees, so we’re trying to prevent waste.”
The 65,232-square-meter plaza will consist of a series of exhibition halls and public libraries that will exhibit both domestic design and new design products from foreign countries in Jung District, central Seoul.
There are more projects that have either been delayed or considered canceled. The Yanghwa Bridge construction project is another part of former mayor Oh’s West Sea Waterway project. The West Sea Waterway project aimed to boost the Han River’s links with the Yellow Sea and ports in China. It has become one of the symbols of wasted tax money as Mayor Park decided to cancel the waterway project.
So far, the city government has spent 49 billion won on refurbishing the bridge, but it still needs to spend an additional 7.9 billion won in order to complete the construction. The city government said that it has decided to complete the bridge because the cost to the cancel the project would be higher than the cost to complete it.
“The city government should support the projects, especially for those that have already cost big money, and finish its completion,” Lee Chang-moo, a professor at the Department of Urban Planning at Hanyang University, told the Korea JoongAng Daily.
By Kwon Sang-soo [sakwon80@joongang.co.kr]
세빛둥둥섬 개장 지연, 128억 혈세 `둥둥`
오세훈 전 서울시장이 추진한 한강르네상스 사업의 일환으로 완공된 세빛둥둥섬의 장기 표류 가능성이 제기되고 있다.
운영사 선정이 늦어지고 있는데다 문제로 지적된 도교 개선 공사 허가도 안 나 내년 하반기까지 전면개장이 연기될 가능성이 커서다.
당장 민간 시행사가 큰 타격을 입게 되겠지만 서울시도 130억원 가까운 시민 세금을 들여 공공시설을 만들어 놓고 방치하고 있다는 지적에서 자유로울 수 없게 됐다.
30일 서울시에 따르면 세빛둥둥섬의 주무부서인 한강사업본부는 내년 2월을 목표로 세빛둥둥섬의 전면개장을 추진하고 있다.
2009년 9월30일 공사가 시작돼 올해 5월21일 전망공간을 열며 부분 개장된 세빛둥둥섬은 9월30일 준공됐지만 시행사와 운영사의 마찰, 둔치와 섬을 연결하는 도교를 홍수기에 철거해야 하는 등의 문제가 불거지면서 전면개장이 계속 연기돼 왔다.
당초 9월 전면개장이 목표였지만 12월로 한 차례 연기됐고 내년 2월로 다시 미뤄진 상태다.
시는 이달 중 운영사 선정을 마치고 영업공간 인테리어 공사를 시작해 내년 1월 도교 개선 공사를 거쳐 2월 전면개장을 할 계획을 세워 놓고 있다.
그러나 시의 추진계획과 달리 내년 2월 전면개장은 현재로서도 불가능한 상황이다.
시행사인 ㈜플로섬에 따르면 세빛둥둥섬의 전면개장은 운영사 선정과 인테리어 공사 기간을 감안하면 빨라야 내년 4월은 돼야 가능하다.
플로섬은 지난해 운영사인 ㈜CR101과 임대차 계약을 맺었다가 운영방식에 마찰이 일면서 계약을 해지하고 운영사를 다시 선정하고 있다.
7월부터 3개 희망 업체들과 협의해 현재 1개 업체를 우선협상대상자로 선정하고 최종 계약을 검토하는 단계라는 게 플로섬 측의 설명이다.
플로섬 관계자는 "늦어도 다음달 중순까지 운영사와 계약을 맺게 되면 인테리어 공사가 시작된다"면서 "운영사가 인테리어 공사기간으로 다섯 달을 요구하고 있어 전면개장은 현실적으로 4월이 되야 가능하다"고 말했다.
문제는 플로섬의 계획이 1~2개월 차질을 빚거나 도교 개선 공사가 늦어지면 전면개장이 내년 9월까지 다시 연기될 가능성이 크다는 데 있다.
5월부터 수해대책기간으로 접어들면 장마나 홍수로 도교가 잠겨 운영이 불가능한 날이 생겨 운영사가 전면개장을 내년 하반기로 연기해달라고 요구할 수 있다.
서울시의회 환경수자원위원회 오승록 의원(민주·노원3)은 "세빛둥둥섬을 운영하려면 300억원 정도의 자금이 필요한데 펀딩을 위한 사업타당성 입증이 쉽지 않아 운영사 선정에 다소 시간이 걸릴 것"이라면서 "이후 인테리어 공사 기간을 감안하면 전면개장 시기는 9월 이후로 연기될 수 있다"고 지적했다.
당초 내년 3월까지 완료할 계획이던 도교 개선 공사는 아직 시작도 못하고 있다. 시는 9월 서울국토관리청에 현재의 부교를 고정형 잠수교 방식으로 바꾸기 위한 공사 신청서를 제출했지만 허가가 나지 않고 있다.
새로 만드는 도교는 선착장 역할을 하는 70m의 고정형 다리와 수위에 따라 높낮이를 조절해 섬과 연결하는 17m의 도개교로 연결된다.
"세빛둥둥섬이 수상구조물이 아닌 선박으로 등기되면서 배에 고정형 도교를 설치한 전례가 없어 결정이 늦어지고 있다"는 게 관계자들의 설명이다.
시는 홍수로 1년에 50일 이상을 철거해야 했던 부교와는 달리 잠수교식 고정형 도교가 완성되면 홍수로 강물에 잠기는 기간이 1년에 10일 정도로 줄어들 것으로 보고 있다.
그러나 도교 개선 공사에 3~4개월이 소요되는 만큼 빨리 공사를 시작하지 못하면 전면개장 시기에 영향을 줄수밖에 없다.
오 의원은 "세빛둥둥섬의 전면개장 계획이 조금이라도 문제가 생기면 시민의 세금을 투입해 만든 공공시설물을 준공 이후 1년 이상 개점휴업상태가 되는 셈"이라면서 "도교를 통한 소방차와 응급차 접근이 불가능하고 소방정도 접근할 수 없는 사각이 발생하는 만큼 전면개장에 앞서 안전문제를 해결할 대책 마련도 필요하다"고 말했다.
25년간 운영 후 기부채납하는 민간투자방식으로 만들어진 세빛둥둥섬에는 SH공사가 지분 29.9%를 갖고 있어 돈으로 환산하면 128억원의 세금이 들어간 상태다.
박 시장은 29일 외부 행사에 참석해 "세빛둥둥섬은 채산성이 있을까 걱정된다"면서 "기본적으로 민자사업인데 엄청난 채무를 가지고 있는 S공사가 몇백억 투자해놨는데 회수하기 힘든 상황이다"고 말했다.
한편 한강사업본부는 세빛둥둥섬의 공공성 확보를 위해 사업내용과 이용요금 등을 사전에 협의할 수 있는 시의원 2명, 시공무원 2명, 외부 전문가와 시민단체 인사 11명 등 모두 15명으로 구성된 공공성위원회를 운영할 계획이다.
