Spent 25.5 Billion Won, Yet Unopened for Over a Year... "Hundreds of Defects"

The Gijang County Council in Busan has decided to request a public audit from Board of Audit and Inspection regarding the Ilgwang Baseball Experience Center, which was completed in September of last year with an investment of 25.5 billion won but has remained closed for over a year.

The Gijang County Council announced that the agenda item requesting a public audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection over the Ilgwang Baseball Experience Center and indoor baseball practice facility passed during the 2nd plenary session of the 299th extraordinary meeting held today (October 29).

The Ilgwang Baseball Experience Center in Gijang County is a facility funded entirely by 25.5 billion won from the county budget, without national or municipal government subsidies.

Considering that the budget allocated for the reconstruction of Sajik Baseball Stadium is around 290 billion won, a substantial amount of budget was put into this baseball experience facility.

Yet, such a facility has failed to even open its doors for more than a year since its completion.

The Ilgwang Baseball Experience Center was completed in September of last year and began test operations starting in July of this year.

Regarding the fact that it took about 10 months from completion to test operations, a county official explained that because the departments in charge of construction and facility management/operation were different, administrative procedures took longer, and it required a significant amount of time to secure personnel and budget before actual operation.

Although test operations barely began 10 months after completion, the official opening has been delayed for another four months.

This is because inadequacies were found in various parts of the facilities and operations, departing from the original plan to officially open after a two-week test run.

During the test operation period, free admission is limited to pre-booked visitors: 105 people on weekdays and 140 people on weekends.

According to data received from the Gijang County Urban Management Corporation by Gijang County Council Chairperson Kim Won-il, equipment and system-related defects reached approximately 440 cases between April 30 and September 30 of this year.

Defects were uncovered in the experience facilities such as sensor errors and ball-pitching mechanisms, and problems were also found in operation manuals and other areas.

Chairperson Kim Won-il stated that losses caused by someone's fault should not be shouldered by taxpayers, emphasizing that losses resulting from the delayed opening and defects must be closely calculated and claims for damages must be filed against those responsible.

An official from Gijang County added that while most issues have now been resolved, thorough monitoring is underway to prevent any problems from arising even after the official opening.

(Photo provided by Gijang County, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.