Aiming to restore the original 'Mr. Phan's House'

(Baonghean) -The Phan Boi Chau memorial site was approved for detailed construction planning by the Provincial People's Committee in 2004; by 2012, the planning was adjusted, restored, and embellished.

Due to the patchwork implementation of the project, there are still unreasonable points in the process of managing and promoting the value of the relic site. Therefore, the Provincial People's Committee has continued to direct the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Management Board of Monuments and Landscapes to establish a Planning and Investment Project to restore the Phan Boi Chau Memorial Relic Site and it was approved in Decision No. 5075/QD-UBND-XD dated October 31, 2015.

Regarding land area, the old relic site has an area of ​​more than 4,000 square meters, now increased to 6,428 square meters; the Northeast borders the 15 meter wide planned road, the Northwest borders the Nam Dan District Labor Federation, the Southwest borders the 9 meter wide planned road and the Southwest borders the Lam River road.

Because the old space was quite narrow, some construction items were not arranged reasonably, somewhat overwhelming the original relic, so the main direction of the relic site was opened to the road along the Lam River. By changing the main direction of the relic site like that, along with future ideas such as building Phan Boi Chau Park (empty land in front of the memorial site, close to the road along the Lam River), building a river wharf, establishing a Ca Tru and Vi Dam Club (operating at the Phan Boi Chau Library in the Memorial Site) ... will create a beautiful landscape, promoting the values ​​of the Phan Boi Chau Memorial Site.

At the same time, the Phan Boi Chau Memorial Site will create a connection with the relics, which are dense and imbued with the historical culture of Nam Dan land, thereby promoting the strengths in developing tourism economy.

Phan Boi Chau Memorial House in Nam Dan town. Photo courtesy

According to the Provincial Monuments and Landscapes Management Board, the current location of the relic site is the maternal hometown and where Mr. Phan was born and lived until he was 3 years old. Here, all traces have been lost. In 1987, with the approval of the Ministry of Culture, the Provincial People's Committee allowed the Department of Culture to move Mr. Phan's house in his paternal hometown in Sao Nam village (now hamlet 2, Xuan Hoa commune); in 1992, this work was ranked as a National Monument by the Ministry of Culture, Information and Sports. Therefore, in terms of the "original" nature of "Mr. Phan's House", there are still controversial opinions. However, in order to comply with the new planning, the Provincial People's Committee, through the process of organizing workshops and collecting opinions from experts, has come to a consensus to change the direction of "Mr. Phan's House".

To ensure consensus in reorienting "Mr. Phan's House", on May 13, 2015, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Management Board of Monuments and Landscapes also organized a meeting to collect witness opinions, with the presence of the People's Committee of Nam Dan district, Nam Dan town, and representatives of Mr. Phan's descendants, and received high consensus.

Therefore, the rotation of "Mr. Phan's House" has been included in the planning, detailed on the design drawings and submitted to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for appraisal. In Official Dispatch No. 4022/UBND.XD of the Provincial People's Committee dated June 18, 2015 regarding the request for agreement on the planning and project to restore and embellish the Phan Boi Chau Memorial Site sent to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Provincial People's Committee specifically stated the reasons for the rotation of "Mr. Phan's House". After appraisal, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism agreed with the above plan and responded in Official Dispatch No. 2645/BVHTTDL dated July 2, 2015.

According to Ms. Tran Thi My Hanh - Head of the Management Board of Monuments and Landscapes (Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism), the change in the status of the ranked relics comes from the desire to create cohesion and uniformity among the items in the relic site, thereby promoting the full cultural and historical values ​​and upholding the spirit of patriot Phan Boi Chau. "The Management Board of Monuments and Landscapes hopes to have sharing and consensus. The idea of ​​the Management Board of Monuments and Landscapes is that in the future, at the Phan Boi Chau Memorial Site, we will restore the original style of the house where Mr. Phan was born, thereby also ensuring the original factor," - Ms. Tran Thi My Hanh shared.

As for the current "Mr. Phan's House", it will be returned to his paternal hometown in Sao Nam village (Hamlet 2, Xuan Hoa commune) to be restored as the wishes of many people.

Ha Giang