The Nantou County Government decided Monday to request the Cabinet to allow the old site of the Taiwan Provincial Government to maintain its character while turning it into a science park. In 1957, the Chung Hsing New Village in central Taiwan became the site of the then provincial government and a model community in Taiwan. In 1998, the village was deprived of its enviable status when the provincial administration was abolished. It has since faced an uncertain fate. Although the Cabinet has mapped out a plan to make the village with modern office buildings and town houses into a science park, the Nantou County Government hopes that the landscape of the village will not be drastically altered. The county administration met Monday and decided to ask the Central Government to allow the village to preserve its old identity, by applying its status to the Cultural Heritage Preservation Law. Considered by many as a jewel in the mountainous Nantou County, the garden village had been a tourist attraction as the provincial government seat for decades. In 1997, the administration of the province was streamlined due to constitutional change and the village lost the governor and most of its glamour. The magnitude 7.3 earthquake on September 21, 1999, which devastated central Taiwan, dealt another blow to the village, destroying many of the old buildings. While undergoing reconstruction, the village has been waiting for the central government to give it a new identity. Premier Liu Chao-shiuan in early July said the administration has decided to transform the village into an innovation center for various cutting-edge industries. Considering its nostalgic value, however, many in Nantou County hope that Chung Hsing New Village will still be remembered as the site of the provincial government, in addition to its new face. A decision on the future look and character of the village will not be decided until the Cabinet takes into serious consideration regarding the cultural heritage proposal. 