Originally the Defense Ministry planned to use the land for residential housing. But the local governments, elected officials at all levels, and scholars and experts, all lobbied for different proposals. There were people calling for the land to be used for commercial real estate, for a trade center, for a new city government office complex, for a university.
最初國防部計畫將衛武營原地用來興建住宅，但高雄縣、市政府與各級民意代表和專家學者卻有不同主張，從住商用地、世貿中心、市政中心、大學校地都有人建議，大家為此紛紛擾擾爭論了好幾年。