Taichung's NT$2.1 billion Pop Music and Audiovisual Center is finally set to open at the end of the year, but councillors worry that the venue, years in the making, will end up as an ordinary movie theatre — bad news for the development of Taichung's cultural and creative industries.

• With reports that Vieshow Cinemas is moving in, Councillor Huang Hsin-hui questioned whether the original cultural and creative positioning has been supplanted by commercial operation.
• The building cost NT$2.1 billion and sat idle for years after completion, drawing criticism as a "mosquito hall" white elephant.
• The venue was first planned as the Central Taiwan Film Center, and there were also proposals to build it jointly with the National Comic Museum. The comic museum later moved elsewhere, and the venue's positioning kept shifting.
• The venue is now operated by ADATA Technology, and councillors have called on the Information Bureau to supervise strictly and ensure the commitments on animation, comics and audiovisual content are honoured.
• The Information Bureau says it will be Taiwan's first composite-format cinema complex, with nine screens, a motion-effects theatre and an immersive theatre for fan meet-and-greets as the main draws.

Outlook: After the year-end opening, whether it can genuinely deliver animation, comics and audiovisual content — rather than simply add another movie theatre — will be the key test in the eyes of all sides.