Self-built structures want to stay
- Source: Global Times
- [10:39 May 07 2010]
- Comments
A child pushes a senior citizen in a wheelchair after stopping at the Spain Pavilion for a look at the basket-shaped structure Thursday. Photo: IC
By Zhou Ping
With mixed messages surfacing on whether any of the self-built pavilions of the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai will be kept as permanent fixtures once the six-month show comes to a close, many participants are left wondering if their structure stands a chance of making a lasting impression on the city's history.
"I cannot tell you what will happen to the self-built pavilions," Ding Limin, a spokesperson for the Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau, told the Global Times yesterday.
"We never expected such a heated discussion on the future of these pavilions as there is still a long ways to go before the end of the Expo," added Ding.
Expo officials have said that it will permanently preserve five landmark buildings: Expo Axis, China Pavilion, Theme Pavilion, Expo Center and Cultural Center.
Many of the remaining buildings will be demolished after the Expo ends on October 31, as maintaining the 100 plus buildings will be costly and occupy too much land needed for development, said authorities.
But many pavilions want their pavilions to remain intact.
The Guangzhou Daily Wednesday quoted Robert Goebbels, commissioner-general of the Luxembourg Pavilion, as saying that organizers had previously said it would vote to preserve five of most beautiful of the 42 self-built structures.
But Zhu Yonglei, deputy director of the Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau, denied the validity of the report Thursday.
