Chuncheon Art Plaza Bomnae Theater / Simplex Architecture

Bomnae Theater in Memory of Chuncheon Citizens - ‘Bomnae’ is an archaic word for Chuncheon. Bomnae Theater was a performance arena that long played a symbolic role in Chuncheon. This building was built in 1970 as Chuncheon Central Methodist Church (now Chuncheon Methodist Church), the oldest church in Chuncheon. When the church building and its annexes were purchased by Chuncheon City in 2000, it was renamed Chuncheon Art Plaza. Since then, it has been used as a cultural space frequented by citizens for various performances, but the improvement was inevitable due to safety issues and difficulty in facility use, as it was rated as a class D in safety inspection in 2017. For the conservation of the historical value of the building, the local government chose to remodel rather than develop a new structure. The decision was taken to raise the safety rating through structural strengthening and to preserve the symbolic wall decoration. Bomnae Theater was to be renovated by placing an emphasis on the restoration of historical value and sense of place as a modern urban historical and cultural heritage in the memory of Chuncheon citizens.