After writing yesterday about all the changes coming to the old HSA areas, I started thinking about the area that was located between the gate to the East Compound and the two hostels to the left of that gate.
My memory is a little hazy (and probably becoming more so each year) but I'm guessing that plot of ground was probably about thirty yards square. It was surrounded by a high concrete wall when I was there in 1973-1974 and was covered with high weeds.
Some said it was a mass grave, though I've never been able to find any such reference. Still it seems like it would have been a pretty valuable piece of real estate to leave unimproved, even during the 1970s.

The photograph here was probably taken from an upper floor of what was then the Roma Hotel during my time in Taipei. I believe that building is still there today at the northeast corner of the intersection of Minzu East Road and Jhonshang North Road. The photo itself is of the hostel where I used to live (room circled), but you can clearly see the fenced-in and weed covered area that I'm talking about.
If anyone out there remembers that piece of ground or knows what the real story was about it, please leave a comment. It was apparently cleared when they demolished all the buildings and built the Art Park that covers that area today, but I've always wondered about its history.