The Taipei City Government has begun taking concrete measures to streamline the management of Taipei Arena, the nations first indoor stadium that opened in 2005, after its original operator ran into a crisis earlier this year.

A squabble involving councilors from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and the opposition Kuomintang over the arenas operations took place as city government officials were about meet the press on Wednesday afternoon to explain what they plan to do after ending a nine-year contract that give the Eastern Media Group exclusive rights to run the facility.

Speaking at a press conference, Taipei City Government Deputy Secretary-General Yang Hsi-an said the city government will do best to reduce possible losses of those who had signed contacts to lease the site for their activities from now until the end of the year.

At the same time, Yang said, the city government will reduce the rental fee to use Taipei Arena so that organizers of various activities and events are more likely to make money.

Yang also announced the appointment of Taipei MRT Corp. Vice President Tang Kuo-kuang to serve concurrently as the director of the complex in order to work out effective strategies to market it in the future.

Taipei Arena is an indoor sporting arena in downtown Taipei, located at the site of the former Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium that was demolished in 2000. It was designed by Archasia, an architectural firm established in Taipei.

Since opening in 2005, the arena has held more art and cultural activities, such as live concerts, than sporting events, for which it was originally designed and built. The most likely sports tenant for the facility, Taiwans semi-professional basketball league, has balked at using the facility because of its high rental expenses that would reportedly dwarf league revenues.

Opened on December 1, 2005, the arena has been operated by the Eastern Media Group, which won the bid to operate the arena for nine years. It has a seating capacity of 10,000, which can be expanded to 15,000 seats if necessary and can accommodate sporting events, concerts, exhibitions, and other large activities.

The dome has two underground and five above-ground floors, with a total space of 88,000 square meters. The ice rink in an adjacent building measures 1,800 square meters.

Hsu Yung-ping, director of the Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs, said the Taipei City Cultural Foundation, which is supported financially by the city government, will replace the Eastern Media Group as the operator of the arena, including the ice skating rink.

She said the city government will review and reconfirm those contracts that the Eastern Media Group has signed with companies that have leased the site for their activities to be held from now until the end of this year.

"We will do our best to honor those contracts, and hope that those contractors would also fulfill their responsibilities to facilitate a smooth transfer of management responsibilities," Hsu said.

She warned that those companies that have refused to cooperate during this transitional stage should not expect the city government to give favorable considerations to their applications for leasing the arena for other activities in the future.

Taipei City took the operating rights away from Eastern Group after its chairman, Gary Wang （王令麟）, was indicted on a range of charges related to financial crimes, including rigging the bidding to win the Taipei Arena management contract. Taipei City also contends that the Eastern Group has violated other terms of its contract with the city.