Hong Kong's heritage preservation movement is gaining strength in recent years as major redevelopments take place and the debate over what to do with historic buildings arises. Recently, the movement culminated with protests over how sites of historic value in the central business district can be integrated with the new harbourfront park and highway plan.

Queen's Pier was designated as a historic building this week, but its fate is yet unclear as the government wants to demolish it while land reclamation continues offshore. Previous colonial governors used this pier as their landing point and for ceremonial purposes. Protesters continue to camp at the site urging the government to preserve the structure in the new harbourfront plans.

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3242.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3244.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3245.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3246.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3247.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3248.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3250.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3251.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3252.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3261.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3262.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3264.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3268.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3273.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3276.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3277.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3274.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3271.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3269.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3279.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3281.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3282.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3283.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3284.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3285.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3286.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3280.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3288.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3292.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3293.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3294.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3295.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3296.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3297.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3299.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3298.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3300.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3301.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3305.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3306.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3307.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070510/IMG_3309.jpg

The 'Red Brick Building' in Yau Ma Tei is over 100 years old and was the first water-pumping station in Kowloon. Today it is preserved and sits next to a huge residential redevelopment project.

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070421/IMG_1874.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070421/IMG_1875.jpg

Murray House was the colonial army quarters when it was built in 1846. Formerly located where today's Bank of China Tower now stands, it was dismantled in 1982 and re-assembled in Stanley. Today, it houses a museum and restaurants.

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070422/IMG_2297.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070422/IMG_2301.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070422/IMG_2296.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070422/IMG_2308.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070422/IMG_2286.jpg

This thread will showcase how historic buildings have been given new functions and what urban design and preservation plans are there for existing historic sites that are being redeveloped.

Historic Buildings in Hong Kong Park

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070409/IMG_1331.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070409/IMG_1335.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070409/IMG_1336.jpg

Dedicated Legco panel set on heritage
Hong Kong Standard
Saturday, May 12, 2007

Legislators have agreed to set up a separate subcommittee to review redevelopment projects to ensure buildings with unique heritage values are preserved.

The decision was arrived at Friday in a meeting of the Legislative Council home affairs panel, which was discussing the government's heritage conservation policy.

Civic Party lawmaker Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung said there were too many issues to be discussed by the home affairs panel alone.

"The preservation of buildings or sites is a very technical topic," he said.

"It would be more appropriate to have a separate subcommittee to discuss such issues."

However, Emily Lau Wai-hing of The Frontier expressed fears some sites of historic value might be bulldozed as part of redevelopment projects by the time a subcommittee was formed.

Liberal Party chairman James Tien Pei-chun said he supported the idea of a subcommittee as there were already too many items on the home affairs panel's agenda.

The panel decided to propose to the House Committee that a subcommittee be set up.

The subcommittee would monitor the government on projects involving potential heritage sites and make sure buildings or sites with unique heritage values are preserved.

It will also discuss with the government feasible alternatives so that certain buildings can be preserved.

The panel also decided to visit Macau and Europe to better understand how other places dealt with such issues.

The discussion came after some legislators expressed dissatisfaction with the passive performance shown by the government on issues involving heritage conservation.

They were particularly concerned that some historical sites, which had been included in redevelopment projects by the Urban Renewal Authority, would be damaged or even destroyed in the redevelopment race.

One of the first tasks for the new subcommittee would be to look at preserving the last remaining traditional Chinese fortified village in Kowloon's urban districts at Nga Tsin Wai and Dragon Garden in the New Territories.

The government's heritage policies first came under harsh scrutiny in January when the Star Ferry pier was dismantled despite a public uproar.

More recently, attention has focused on the Queen's Pier, where colonial governors first set foot on the territory.

The Antiquities Advisory Board last week voted to designate the pier as a Grade I historical building.

But government officials said they had no intention of making the pier a declared monument and the grading would not necessarily grant it a reprieve.

The Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market is a Grade III historic building. It operates mainly the early morning just after midnight. The government intends to move the wholesale market to another location but there is debate over how to preserve the buildings in a redevelopment scheme.

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070421/IMG_1866.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070421/IMG_1868.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070421/IMG_1871.jpg

^^ I mayself too agree that we need to preserve the Historic background of our citys we should find a good location for the skyscrapers and leave the old structure intact and of course we also need parks a green lands what are we gonna do not bread any more???

I, not being in any way deeply familiar with HK, by the photos can say that i believe these buildings add variation and should be preserved if possible.

The Hong Kong Observatory in Tsim Sha Tsui retains its function despite being located in the heart of congested Kowloon. Perched on top of a hill, it is surrounded by one of the last remaining natural woodlands in the peninsula.

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20030322/RIMG2293.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20030322/RIMG2305.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20030322/RIMG2312.jpg

A recent edition of a local travel magazine published an article on historic architecture in Hong Kong :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/asiaglobe/hongkong/IMG_3580.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/asiaglobe/hongkong/IMG_3581.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/asiaglobe/hongkong/IMG_3582.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/asiaglobe/hongkong/IMG_3583.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/asiaglobe/hongkong/IMG_3584.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/asiaglobe/hongkong/IMG_3585.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/asiaglobe/hongkong/IMG_3586.jpg

Study hall wins monument status and will be restored
5 May 2007
South China Morning Post

The government will fully restore a more than century-old traditional Chinese study hall in Yuen Long after it declared the historic building a monument yesterday.

Chik Kwai Study Hall at Sheung Tsuen, Pat Heung, was built before 1899 by Lai Kam-tai of the indigenous Lai clan.

A government spokesman said it was a typical example of a traditional two-hall, one-courtyard building of the Qing dynasty, and the quality was exceptional due to the well-preserved architectural components of the building.

An English-style mansion in Pok Fu Lam was declared a temporary monument last week, stopping the owner from demolishing it for a year.

Clan member Lai Wai-hung, a Yuen Long district councillor whose family has lived in Pat Heung for hundreds of years, welcomed the decision on the study hall but hoped the area would be improved.

"The environment is pretty bad," he said. "A public toilet without a flushing facility is only a dozen feet away. It is totally unacceptable."

The study hall was built to educate young clansmen in the classics and it was also used for ancestor worship from the 1930s.

School operations ceased during the second world war but it reopened afterwards as the Wing Hing School, providing modern education. It was later used as a kindergarten but closed decades ago.

The study hall served as a venue for clan meetings and traditional rituals, such as wedding ceremonies and ancestor worship at the spring and autumn equinoxes.

Its green-brick facade is distinguished by a solemn granite-block wall base and the overhanging roof supported by ornamental brackets, camel humps and granite columns.

The roof ridge of the entrance hall is decorated with polychrome moulding depicting the theme "carp jumping over the dragon gate". Inside, the exquisitely carved camel humps and eave boards are devoted to themes of traditional Chinese folk stories and auspicious motifs.

A beautifully crafted wooden altar sits in the main hall to accommodate the soul tablets of the Lai ancestors.

Its architectural components include ornate woodcarvings, lively decorative plaster moulding on the roof ridges and gable walls and vivid traditional Chinese murals, which apparently have not been repainted or refurbished since the study hall was built.

The Antiquities and Monuments Office will carry out the restoration after a comprehensive conservation study and cartographic survey. It will be opened to the public.

Heritage at centre of Hong Kong's search for post-colonial identity

HONG KONG, May 14, 2007 (AFP) - Long celebrated for its picturesque harbour and dazzling skyscrapers, as well as low taxes and a business-friendly government that has made it rich terrain for property developers, Hong Kong is in the grip of a debate on its post-colonial identity.

A decade after its former British rulers handed the territory back to China, Hong Kong's rapidly changing face is drawing growing public opposition to rampant development that some say is destroying a traditional way of life.

The issue of heritage preservation came to a head last year when the government decided, with what many say was woefully inadequate public consultation, to destroy the iconic Star Ferry pier and its clock tower to make way for a new shopping centre and highway.

Thousands of people turned out to protest, sparking huge public debate and turning the protection of Hong Kong's heritage into a major issue ahead of the limited election to reinstate Chief Executive Donald Tsang in March.

"Traditionally, Hong Kong society has been very economy-driven. But since 1997, people have become more concerned with our identity and core values," Bernard Lim, an architecture professor and member of both the Town Planning Board and the Antiquities Advisory Board, told AFP.

"People are now more willing to voice their opinions, and the Star Ferry and the dismantling of the clock tower was a turning point. Now, the government has to come up with ways of coping with those new demands, under the umbrella of the need for sustainable development."

Ho Loy is facing charges over her participation in the Star Ferry Pier protests, and unsurprisingly does not agree with Lim's assessment.

"Heritage conservation is not expensive, its an investment," she said. "Hong Kong is one of the world's richest cities, but culturally it is becoming poorer than the third world."

Chief Executive Tsang responded to the mass protests by promising greater public consultation, using a pre-election address to call on Hong Kong people to express their views on what he termed "collective memory".

But he insisted this should not be at the expense of infrastructure development, a sign that maintaining the city's appeal to investors remains the government's priority.

Katty Law, who has set up a group to lobby for the preservation of the rapidly changing SoHo district, believes the government's "general mindset is driven by sales revenue," and worries that promises of more public involvement in decisions will fall victim to the financial pressure to push through deals.

"They (the authorities) talk about more public consultation, but it is an incredibly slow process," she said.

"Heritage conservation is a hugely controversial issue in Hong Kong, especially when the building you are trying to protect is on land worth billions of dollars."

Two years ago residents of Soho -- once home to traditional artisans, craftsmen and printers and now filled with trendy bars, art galleries and boutiques -- lost their battle to block the construction of two upmarket residential tower blocks on the hitherto mainly low-rise Hollywood Road.

Now, a disused colonial-era police barracks on the same street is open to bids from developers, although Law and fellow campaigners are trying to have the site reclassified for community use.

Nearby, a 140-year-old street market popular with locals and tourists alike is threatened by a major development of two high-rise residential blocks and an office tower.

The government has said it will preserve the market stalls, but has not said how. And a plan to replace the historic shop houses with replicas has been widely criticised as an attempt to "Disneyfy" Hong Kong's heritage.

"It's just a package to make the development more attractive," said Law. "A market is like the soul of the city and it cannot survive if the street becomes part of a big residential complex. It will die slowly and in the end there will be nothing left."

It is this destruction of a traditional way of life that most concerns many Hong Kong residents, and there are many other stories like it.

In Wanchai, where old-style markets and shops stand alongside shiny new office blocks, a $3.6 billion-US-dollar plan to redevelop an entire street has forced the closure of wedding invitation printing businesses that had survived for more than a generation.

There is no doubt that money talks in Hong Kong. When the Bank of China decided it wanted to buy the prime city-centre site occupied by Hong Kong's oldest colonial building, Murray House, for its new offices, the authorities obligingly took the historic structure apart and rebuilt it, brick by brick, on the other side of the island.

But some believe there may also be a political motive for the government's willingness to see Hong Kong's old buildings fall victim to the wrecking ball.

Among them is Hung Wing-Tat, director of the Conservancy Association, who has campaigned for years to secure more stringent planning regulations that would restrict developers and give local residents more say.

He believes the government has failed to understand people's emotional attachment to colonial relics such as the old-style postboxes that are gradually disappearing, and suspects tacit pressure from Beijing.

He says the government underestimated the public reaction to the closure of the Star Ferry pier, and more recently Queen's Pier, where Hong Kong's British governors and visiting dignitaries traditionally stepped onto the island.

For campaigner Ho, "Hong Kong people have a 150-year history of European influence and colonial rule. China is in our blood, but we need time to combine that with the present and define what our future should be."

For Lim, the government advisor, the question of Hong Kong's identity has already been answered.

"Perhaps Hong Kong hasn't got the right culture to preserve its heritage sites properly," he was recently quoted as saying.

"We focus so much energy on making money and we have to pay a price for that. There's nothing to regret. It's a money-driven city, and that's our identity."

Nobody wants the Haw Par Mansion Government groups reject Aw family home
2 May 2007
South China Morning Post

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y181/Genuine007/hk7/070321b_017s.jpg
Photo by Car L

The historic Haw Par Mansion remains vacant despite escaping Cheung Kong's bulldozers in 2002 because no government department wants to take over the former residence of the late flamboyant billionaire Aw Boon Haw.

Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Ho Chi-ping said the government was still considering what to do with the 72-year-old Tai Hang mansion, which needs extensive work before it can be opened to the public.

"We have asked all departments but none of them wanted it," he said.

The mansion is vacant as residents prepare to move into the adjacent luxury development built on the site of the Tiger Balm Gardens that once surrounded the residence with world-famous plaster images of hell.

Mr Ho said this paradox - that the gardens, once one of the city's most popular parks, were bulldozed while the mansion, which few members of the public had ever visited, was kept - illustrated the need for a new heritage conservation policy.

The Antiquities Advisory Board recommended the mansion's preservation because of its historical and architectural merit, rarity and integrity and the government struck a deal with Cheung Kong to keep it in return for greater density in the property development.

"Is the mansion a part our of collective memories? Have you entered it? How many people actually went into the building to see it?" Mr Ho asked.

"The 18 stories of hell outside, where you, me and everybody has visited, are collective memories but have been torn down because they have no artistic, historic and architectural value. They are just plaster and can be reconstructed any moment," Mr Ho said, reiterating an argument he used in 2004.

But conservationists said it was up to the government whether new uses could be found for historic places.

"I'm not sure whether Mr Ho knows what he is talking about," journalist-turned-conservationist Patsy Cheng Man-wah said.

"The ultimate goal of heritage conservation is to preserve the cultural significance of a place," she said. "Collective memory is a reference point to interpret why a place is important and to remind the people that they do not have to submit to authorities when considering whether a place has preservation value. Collective memory is not an ultimate goal.

"By reviewing a place's cultural significance, we give ourselves a chance to look into our cultural identity, social value and history. It is why we need to protect our heritage.

"Whatever is preserved must be useful. If the government can't figure out how to deal with heritage, it shows they lack understanding of the issue."

Tiger Balm Garden was designed by the late Mr Aw in 1935 to advertise Tiger Balm products, provide public open space and educate Hong Kong Chinese about their cultural identity through depicting characters from traditional folklore and religious moral lessons.

His heir, Sally Aw Sian, sold the entire complex to Cheung Kong in 1998.

Let's just hope the best for those 'treasure'.

Haw Par Mansion looks fantastic very beautiful out from a dream

The mansion truly looks beautiful. Hope she will survive! Hong Kong needs that kind of architecture too..

I agree those mansions look great and worth preserving; but Queen's pier? Sorry, don't see it as grade 1 historic structure.

The pier has historic value, but not much architectural value. It was the landing point for a few British governors but other than that it's just a public pier.

Wanchai Johnston Road Project
A commercial/residential redevelopment in the heart of Wanchai. Four historical shop-houses (60 - 66, Johnston Road & 18, Ship Street) will be preserved as part of the project.

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070623/IMG_5557.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070623/IMG_5560.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070623/IMG_5561.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070623/IMG_5562.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070623/IMG_5565.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070623/IMG_5567.jpg

Heritage at centre of Hong Kong's search for post-colonial identity

HONG KONG, June 26, 2007 (AFP) - Long celebrated for its picturesque harbour and dazzling skyscrapers, as well as low taxes and a business-friendly government that has made it rich terrain for property developers, Hong Kong is in the grip of a debate on its post-colonial identity.

A decade after its former British rulers handed the territory back to China, Hong Kong's rapidly changing face is drawing growing public opposition to rampant development that some say is destroying a traditional way of life.

The issue of heritage preservation came to a head last year when the government decided, with what many say was woefully inadequate public consultation, to destroy the iconic Star Ferry pier and its clock tower to make way for a new shopping centre and highway.

Thousands of people turned out to protest, sparking huge public debate and turning the protection of Hong Kong's heritage into a major issue ahead of the limited election to reinstate Chief Executive Donald Tsang in March.

"Traditionally, Hong Kong society has been very economy-driven. But since 1997, people have become more concerned with our identity and core values," Bernard Lim, an architecture professor and member of both the Town Planning Board and the Antiquities Advisory Board, told AFP.

"People are now more willing to voice their opinions, and the Star Ferry and the dismantling of the clock tower was a turning point. Now, the government has to come up with ways of coping with those new demands, under the umbrella of the need for sustainable development."

Ho Loy is facing charges over her participation in the Star Ferry Pier protests, and unsurprisingly does not agree with Lim's assessment.

"Heritage conservation is not expensive, its an investment," she said. "Hong Kong is one of the world's richest cities, but culturally it is becoming poorer than the third world."

Chief Executive Tsang responded to the mass protests by promising greater public consultation, using a pre-election address to call on Hong Kong people to express their views on what he termed "collective memory".

But he insisted this should not be at the expense of infrastructure development, a sign that maintaining the city's appeal to investors remains the government's priority.

Katty Law, who has set up a group to lobby for the preservation of the rapidly changing SoHo district, believes the government's "general mindset is driven by sales revenue," and worries that promises of more public involvement in decisions will fall victim to the financial pressure to push through deals.

"They (the authorities) talk about more public consultation, but it is an incredibly slow process," she said.

"Heritage conservation is a hugely controversial issue in Hong Kong, especially when the building you are trying to protect is on land worth billions of dollars."

Two years ago residents of Soho -- once home to traditional artisans, craftsmen and printers and now filled with trendy bars, art galleries and boutiques -- lost their battle to block the construction of two upmarket residential tower blocks on the hitherto mainly low-rise Hollywood Road.

Now, a disused colonial-era police barracks on the same street is open to bids from developers, although Law and fellow campaigners are trying to have the site reclassified for community use.

Nearby, a 140-year-old street market popular with locals and tourists alike is threatened by a major development of two high-rise residential blocks and an office tower.

The government has said it will preserve the market stalls, but has not said how. And a plan to replace the historic shop houses with replicas has been widely criticised as an attempt to "Disneyfy" Hong Kong's heritage.

"It's just a package to make the development more attractive," said Law. "A market is like the soul of the city and it cannot survive if the street becomes part of a big residential complex. It will die slowly and in the end there will be nothing left."

It is this destruction of a traditional way of life that most concerns many Hong Kong residents, and there are many other stories like it.

In Wanchai, where old-style markets and shops stand alongside shiny new office blocks, a $3.6 billion-US-dollar plan to redevelop an entire street has forced the closure of wedding invitation printing businesses that had survived for more than a generation.

There is no doubt that money talks in Hong Kong. When the Bank of China decided it wanted to buy the prime city-centre site occupied by Hong Kong's oldest colonial building, Murray House, for its new offices, the authorities obligingly took the historic structure apart and rebuilt it, brick by brick, on the other side of the island.

But some believe there may also be a political motive for the government's willingness to see Hong Kong's old buildings fall victim to the wrecking ball.

Among them is Hung Wing-Tat, director of the Conservancy Association, who has campaigned for years to secure more stringent planning regulations that would restrict developers and give local residents more say.

He believes the government has failed to understand people's emotional attachment to colonial relics such as the old-style postboxes that are gradually disappearing, and suspects tacit pressure from Beijing.

He says the government underestimated the public reaction to the closure of the Star Ferry pier, and more recently Queen's Pier, where Hong Kong's British governors and visiting dignitaries traditionally stepped onto the island.

For campaigner Ho, "Hong Kong people have a 150-year history of European influence and colonial rule. China is in our blood, but we need time to combine that with the present and define what our future should be."

For Lim, the government advisor, the question of Hong Kong's identity has already been answered.

"Perhaps Hong Kong hasn't got the right culture to preserve its heritage sites properly," he was recently quoted as saying.

"We focus so much energy on making money and we have to pay a price for that. There's nothing to regret. It's a money-driven city, and that's our identity."

Heritage protection to be split in revamp
Two offices to share conservation role
25 June 2007
South China Morning Post

The government's heritage protection work will be split in the next administration, with the Antiquities and Monuments Office remaining under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department while development-related issues go to the new Development Bureau.

The arrangement has upset conservationists, who say it shows a lack of commitment to heritage conservation despite changing public sentiment after the demolition of the old Star Ferry pier.

Conservationists also warned of confusion on heritage projects put on hold, such as the Central Police Station compound, the former Hollywood Road married-police quarters, Haw Par Mansion in Tai Hang and Lui Seng Chun in Sham Shui Po - as well as the public consultation over heritage conservation.

Official sources said the new bureau would seek the antiquities office's professional opinion when the government's development projects affect heritage.

"Issues such as museums and intangible heritage are unrelated to development. It is more appropriate to make the office's works under the [cultural services department]," a source said.

The Star Ferry pier demolition in December forced the government to reopen the shelved public consultation on heritage conservation, and prompted Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen to combine development and conservation under one bureau.

"Splitting heritage conservation between two bureaus will give rise to many co-ordination problems," Lee Ho-yin, director of the University of Hong Kong's architectural conservation programme, said.

"The most effective way to protect heritage is to put the antiquities office under the Planning Department. Protecting heritage is not only about saving a building from demolition," he said, adding that it was meaningless to give a building a heritage grading without putting it in the context of the present and the future environment. "This is why it is important to put the antiquities office under the Planning Department."

Betty Ho Siu-fong, chairwoman of the Conservancy Association, asked if the government would have a process to decide which heritage conservation project was related to development. "How and who is going to decide which project is development related?" she asked.

But not everyone was sure of the results of the new arrangement.

Institute of Architects president Ronald Lu Yuen-cheung expected the development bureau would have a role on heritage conservation on projects such as harbour reclamation, building bridges and roads.

He said: "This arrangement will allow development to override heritage conservation. It may not be good for heritage, but it is certainly good for development.

"As an architect, I'm not sure whether it is good news or bad news. I think it is a matter of give and take."

Town planning climbs agenda
29 June 2007
Financial Times

Shortly after midnight on July 1, 1997, Prince Charles and Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, marked the end of 156 years of British rule when they boarded the royal yacht Britannia and sailed out of the Victoria harbour.

They embarked at Tamar, a short distance from the historic Queen's Pier where Mr Patten landed upon taking up his post in 1992. It was a long-held tradition for British governors, and visiting royalty including Queen Elizabeth, to land formally at the pier upon arrival.

Now, 10 years after the Britannia's departure, Tamar is barren pending the construction of a new, HKDollars 5.2bn (Dollars 667m) government headquarters. Critics question whether an administrative palace is the best use for one of the territory's best remaining pieces of undeveloped harbour-front and say the decision-making process has been opaque. Queen's Pier, meanwhile, was closed this April despite strong opposition and will be removed to make way for a four-lane highway built on reclaimed land.

Public outrage over urban redevelopment used to be rare in a city that viewed rapid transformation as a necessary part of economic development, and where previous approaches to heritage preservation yielded curious results.

The distinctive brick-and-granite Tsim Sha Tsui clock tower stands isolated at the tip of the Kowloon peninsula, the only remnant of the Kowloon railway station that was demolished in 1977 despite protests and petitioning from pressure groups. When Murray House, the Victorian-era barracks in Central, needed to give way to build the 70-storey tall Bank of China building in 1982, the government decided to dismantle it brick by brick. Murray House was rebuilt on the south side of Hong Kong island in 1999 and is today home to restaurants, souvenir shops and a maritime museum.

"As an architect in the 1970s I must have destroyed some of the best buildings in Hong Kong," says Patrick Lau, a lawmaker representing the architecture, surveying and planning sectors. "People just didn't care."

Recalling how he helped the government compile records of old buildings 30 years ago, Mr Lau said: "We would take measurements of buildings for the official records, and then the government would come and tear them down. No one wanted to stop development at that time. People have to care about their city in order to preserve its heritage."

A city-wide debate over urban planning and heritage preservation was finally sparked late last year when the famed Star Ferry Pier, with its distinctive clock tower, was demolished as part of the same reclamation and highways project that doomed neighbouring Queen's Pier.

As the bulldozers moved in on Star Ferry Pier, students, activists, and politicians staged multiple protests to preserve a historically and culturally significant structure. The pier, they argued, represented an important part of Hong Kong's collective memory, pointing not only to the pier's many years of service but also to a 1966 hunger strike and riots over a proposed fare hike.

"We felt that development shouldn't just be about the economy but there should also be respect for culture and history," says Bobo Yip, one of the activists who tried to save the pier. "A lot of social movements were centred around the Star Ferry Pier. It's a Hong Kong landmark."

"There is now a much greater degree of local awareness among Hong Kong citizens," adds Albert Lai, chairman of the non-government Hong Kong People's Council for Sustainable Development and a vocal opponent of the pier's destruction. "The transition in 1997 made people identify with Hong Kong as their own place. As a reaction to globalisation, too, people feel a greater need to have a local identity and to find local culture and heritage."

But the government, which had unveiled the project in 2004, said any last-minute changes would be unfeasible, and all proper consultation procedures had already been observed. The pier was demolished on December 11 despite violent protests, although the government promised to incorporate elements of the clocktower into a new promenade that will be built after the reclamations.

"To me it is no answer to say 'we followed the law' if the law is deficient," says Gladys Li, a barrister and senior member of the fledgling Civic Party, which opposed the pier's destruction. "Real public engagement is missing."

The protests, which occurred just months before Donald Tsang secured a second term as chief executive, became a political issue. "The first thing we need to do is find the reasonable level of physical development by balancing it with environmental protection and heritage preservation," Mr Tsang said in an interview with the FT. In the months following the destruction of the pier, Mr Tsang launched a public consultation on how Hong Kong should preserve its cultural heritage, and pledged a new style of governance.

However, Mr Tsang has also re-affirmed his decision to proceed with the dismantling of Queen's Pier, despite a government advisory body's recommendation that it be considered a historical monument. Like Murray House, the pier would be stored and reconstructed in a new location.

"The government's problem is that they haven't changed in 10 years," says Mr Lai. "There is a growing value gap between the ruling elite and the general population. The government tends to still see development and conservation as polarised."

"We're paying a high price for the greed factor," adds Nicholas Brooke, chairman of Professional Property Services Limited, a real estate consultancy, and a former deputy chairman of the town planning board. Roughly 40 per cent of government revenue is derived from land sales, giving it strong incentives to allow property developers to build dense, commercially lucrative developments.

Mr Brooke says: "The major developers, who have to play the game and maximise shareholder value, don't see there being a great deal wrong with the system as it is. The driving force (behind the current development model) is to find the best use for the land and to maximize land revenue. This was fine while we were in growth mode. But we're seeing the impact now in terms of very dense development and inadequate quality of life."

Additional reporting by Tom Mitchell

Hong Kong leader pledges more public engagement on heritage

HONG KONG, July 5, 2007 (AFP) - Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang pledged Thursday to engage more with the public on heritage conservation as he began his second term in office.

But he refused to be drawn on the details of his plan to introduce more democracy in the territory, where tens of thousands took to the streets Sunday to demand universal suffrage.

Tsang said the previous government had "left something to be desired" on issues such as heritage conservation, and promised closer cooperation with the public in the future.

"For issues of public concern such as heritage, we should seize every opportunity to engage our public organisations in dialogue," Tsang told legislators in his first speech since his inauguration Sunday.

The government's decision last year to demolish Hong Kong's historic Star Ferry pier and clock tower to make way for a highway and shopping centre sparked protests and huge public debate on heritage in a city famed for its skyscrapers.

Tsang said Hong Kong people's concerns had changed since the return to Chinese rule a decade ago.

"The people of Hong Kong are not only interested in economic issues, they are also interested in other values and objectives, including sustainable development and heritage conservation," he said.

"I must admit the government left something to be desired in these areas and we need time to adjust to that."

Tsang declined to discuss the details of his pledge to introduce a more democratic system, despite repeated questions from legislators.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets Sunday, the 10th anniversary of the handover, to call for universal suffrage in Hong Kong, where citizens do not have the right to choose their own leaders and only half the legislature is directly elected.

Tsang, who is widely expected to publish a long-awaited green paper on political reform next week, would say only that the universal suffrage model to be adopted by Hong Kong would be acceptable to the rest of the world.

Before Tsang began speaking, independent legislator Leung Kwok-hung was removed from the chamber.

Leung had tried to hand the chief executive a petition calling for the introduction of a minimum wage.

From what I know there has been little effort to spare the vernacular shophouse forms - they happen to be frequently the most versatile and adaptable building forms and can house all sorts of housing, commerce and light industry. This kind of building happens to be a real connective tissue that permits understandability of the city. We have been blinded so much by the expectations of the big name prestige projects...

I've read that in Singapore they wanted the shophouses knocked down, but when tourism began falling, the authorities relented and now the remaining districts have been restored. Heritage and cultural tourism is about 5% of Singapore's GDP, not insignificant... (Source: Anthony Tung, Preserving the World's Great Cities, New York, Clarkson Potter, 2002)

Hong Kong doesn't call these types of buildings shophouses. Rather, they're integrated buildings with retail on the ground floor and residentials on top, and were the typical design of the time. There are still plenty of them around, especially on the Kowloon side. Here are some examples from previous posts in this thread :

Mongkok

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/asiaglobe/hongkong/IMG_3584.jpg

These ones were purposely restored as part of a redevelopment program. A new skyscraper sits next to these buildings.

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070623/IMG_5557.jpg

However, the Hong Kong government is not doing this for tourism reasons, but rather for actual historical preservation. I don't think preserving history for the sake of attracting tourists is the right way to do it.

^^ sounds good, but how do they determine which buildings are worthy of preservation and which for demolition? For example, does that building that was preserved hold any special historical value compared to buildings that were once around it?

The wee yellow building is soooo cute.

^^ sounds good, but how do they determine which buildings are worthy of preservation and which for demolition? For example, does that building that was preserved hold any special historical value compared to buildings that were once around it?

Basically, the structure has to meet certain requirements as listed in the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance (you can see the Ordinance at http://www.legislation.gov.hk/eng/home.htm - Chapter 53) and evaluated by the the Antiquities Advisory Board and the Antiquities and Monuments Office. The Board and the Office will grade the structure as Grade I, II, III or nothing.

Grade I means buildings have outstanding merit, which every effort should be made to preserve if possible.

Grade II means buildings has special merit; efforts should be made to selectively preserve.

Grade III means buildings of some merit, but not yet qualified for consideration as possible monuments. These are to be recorded and used as a pool for future selection.

On top of the three grading, the Chief Executive has the power to declare the historic buildings as Declared Monument as recommended by the Secretary for Home Affairs. Unless, the structure is declared as Declared Monument, all other graded buildings in the historic building list can be demolished, Queen's Pier as an example which is a Grade I historic structures.

So it's all up to the developer, either the government or private developer, to determine the fate of any historic structures. The public has very little to say about the preservation.

The buildings preserved in Wan Chai in hkskyline's were built in the early 1900s, and they are the only structures in that kind still standing in Wan Chai. The Urban Renewal Agency thought they are worth to preserved did not tear them down as part of the redevelopment.

Heritage versus concrete
Clashes over conservation reflect a growing appreciation of the past
1 July 2007
South China Morning Post

Conservation has bloomed as an issue in social and political circles in the past 10 years as campaigns pushed for a better quality of life, respect for history and balance between nature and humankind.

A new breed of activist emerged, seizing on causes from wetland protection to the preservation of buildings and intangible heritage - like traditional practices and art forms. They challenged the government and statutory bodies such as the Urban Renewal Authority and Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation.

As attitudes towards conservation changed, artists, cultural critics and university students took up the cause. They became influential advocates, urging ordinary people to join the crusade for more open space, better air quality and heritage conservation.

The new breed of conservationists teamed up with environmentalists, architects, town planners and other professionals to demand more democracy in town planning mechanisms and procedures. Only genuine public participation, they asserted, could protect Hong Kong's identity and cultural heritage in the face of a development model that disregarded sustainability.

The path to their first major victory began at the turn of the millennium - a three-year struggle to save a piece of wetland in Sheung Shui. Long Valley, at 2.5 hectares, is Hong Kong's second-largest wetland. About half as big again as Victoria Park, the valley is home to 210 species of birds, half of the known species in Hong Kong. It also is home to 97 types of butterfly and nine species of reptile.

The KCRC had planned to bisect the wetland to build the Lok Ma Chau spur line. But conservationists put up determined resistance, turning their battle with the railway into a city-wide campaign to save the valley. In the end, the Environmental Protection Department rejected KCRC's plan, forcing it to put a tunnel under the bird-watching haven and sending costs soaring to HK$10 billion from HK$8 billion.

But the Long Valley victory was no guarantee that other fights to protect the city's natural environment would be easy. Now, conservationists are fighting an uphill battle to stop CLP Power from building a liquefied natural gas terminal on South Soko Island, and a 38km pipeline.

Opponents point out the damage the projects would cause to key habitat of the endangered Chinese white dolphin and to coral and fish species. But the government gave the scheme the green light in April.

From a focus on nature, conservationists broadened their scope to cover the entire urban area, challenging the traditional wisdom of development at the expense of history and quality of life. Veteran harbour protector Winston Chu Ka-sun kicked off the conservation battle in the urban area by taking the Town Planning Board to court over the Wan Chai North reclamation plan.

The 10.5-hectare reclamation is planned to extend from the Convention and Exhibition Centre towards Causeway Bay. Mr Chu, in the name of the Society for Protection of the Harbour, applied for a judicial review in March 2003, saying the plan violated the Harbour Protection Ordinance.

A separate legal battle against the Central reclamation - which led to the destruction of the Star Ferry pier and the coming demolition of Queen's Pier - was launched a few months later.

Mr Chu forced the Wan Chai reclamation to return to the drawing board, but he failed to address the Central reclamation. The legal battle over Wan Chai laid down the "overriding public need" test for future reclamation.

One year later, a new fight loomed when two giant developers decided to demolish the brand-new Hunghom Peninsula housing development. Five green groups - the Conservancy Association, Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong), Greenpeace, Green Power and the WWF Hong Kong - signed a joint petition demanding that New World Development and Sun Hung Kai Properties drop the plan.

The Peninsula development had been commissioned by the Housing Authority with a view to selling flats to low-income families. But residents never moved into the new waterfront buildings. In an already ailing property market, the government decided to suspend the Home Ownership Scheme to avoid a glut of new flats.

Instead, the authority sold the project to the two developers, which decided to tear it down and build more profitable luxury residential properties in its place. But the public opposition forced the developers to abandon the plan, and to upgrade the properties by renovation. The petition was later turned into a city-wide campaign against creating unnecessary construction waste and worsening air quality.

Another confrontation occurred over the former marine police headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui. Cheung Kong Holdings bought the property in May 2003, paying the government HK$325.8 million. It planned to build a heritage hotel, but conservationists were angered by its decision to cut down hundreds of mature trees and remove the Tsim Sha Tsui hill to build a shopping arcade.

They failed to save the trees and the hill, but they used the incident to promote the idea that heritage conservation should not be just about protecting a building. It publicised how the government's tendering process sacrificed heritage conservation for the land premium.

In 2004, conservationists targeted the Tourism Commission's plans to earmark the old Central police station complex for commercial activities. By highlighting what had happened to the marine police headquarters, protesters got the Central project put on hold.

The police compound was designated for tourism-related restoration and development one month before the commission awarded the former marine police headquarters to Cheung Kong.

Heritage advocates helped change skyscrapers, once a landmark of Hong Kong's affluence, into symbols of a suffocating living environment. A young environmental group, Green Sense, rose to prominence when it showed how the KCRC's West Rail property development of massive residential high-rises would create a "wall-effect" of buildings, blocking air and sunshine. Hundreds of Yuen Long residents filed a rezoning request to the Town Planning Board to turn a West Rail development site into a park. They said the project, if built, would see dozens of high-rise structures blocking the breeze and sunshine from reaching their homes.

John Batten, a former gallery owner, and Katty Law Ngar-ning, a housewife, founded the Central and Western Concern Group to oppose the deterioration of their community. They tried repeatedly through the town planning process to stop the government from selling the married police quarters in Hollywood Road.

Although they failed to persuade the Town Planning Board to share their vision, the pair successfully lobbied the Antiquities Advisory Board to order the Antiquities Monuments Office to conduct an archaeological survey at the plot. Ms Law had found evidence that the site may have housed not only a Chinese settlement soon after the city became a British colony but also the first Shing Wong Temple and later the historic Central School. It remains unclear whether the campaign will succeed.

The government's plan to sell the Bauhaus-style Central Market building and the former government supply depot in Oil Street were also challenged. Conservationists failed to get the two prime sites removed from the land application list, but their efforts forced the government to lower the development density of the two projects. So far, no developers have expressed interest in the two sites.

Meanwhile, new battle lines were being drawn across some of the city's fading precincts. Distinctive communities in older areas such as Wan Chai, Central, Mong Kok and Sham Shui Po found themselves at odds with the push for modernisation being spearheaded by the Urban Renewal Authority. The authority's plans in Wan Chai include tearing down Lee Tung Street, nicknamed "Wedding Card Street", and the Bauhaus-style Wan Chai Market. In Central, the authority plans to pull down part of the 140-year-old outdoor market in Peel, Graham and Gage streets to make way for hotels, offices, residential towers and shops. Across the harbour, the authority's plans for Mong Kok are also highly controversial. It wants to redevelop part of Sai Yee, Nelson and Fa Yuen streets - known as "Sneaker Street" for its profusion of sports-shoe shops. The project divided a community: two pressure groups were formed to push the opposing causes - renovation versus redevelopment. That placed the street's business community, on the ground floor, at odds with the residents on upper floors.

Although the Town Planning Board has given the green light to the authority to demolish Wedding Card Street, conservationists have refused to give up. They also vowed to protect Central's street market, the old Sham Shui Po and Mong Kok. Betty Ho Siu-fong, chairwoman of the Conservancy Association, said 2003 was a watershed. "First, it was the bursting of the property bubble, then came the Sars epidemic. People realised that quality of life was more important than money."

Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, a City University professor of political science, said: "The proliferation of conservation campaigns shows the values of Hong Kong people have changed. People demand sustainable development, not unrestricted development at all cost. The conflict has become more acute because the people do not recognise the political system."

People believed increasingly the city would be a better place if they had a voice in community planning. "If the government opens up the town-planning mechanism to the public, it will enrich our political system," Professor Cheung said. "Universal suffrage is a one-off exercise: people can only vote when there is an election. But genuine public participation ensures the people's voice will always be heard."

Owner cagey on sale of mansion
Reports of HK$450m sale unconfirmed
11 July 2007
South China Morning Post

The owner of a rare Chinese-style mansion in Mid-Levels - which was withdrawn from sale three years ago amid a conservation campaign - has refused to confirm whether the 71-year-old house has been sold for HK$450 million.

Businessman Stephen Yow Mok-shing, owner of King Yin Lei at 45 Stubbs Road - one of the city's oldest and best-maintained mixed-style private residences - refused to say whether he had sold the property.

Chinese-language media reports say the mansion has been sold for HK$450 million.

Mr Yow refused to comment when asked to confirm the reports. "I have no idea where the news comes from," he said. "You could call me a couple of weeks later. The issue will be clearer."

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department said it was unaware of Mr Yow's latest move concerning the 25,000 sq ft red-brick mansion that overlooks Happy Valley racecourse and Victoria Harbour.

A department spokesman said the government would not intervene on any deals on private residences, but vowed it would closely monitor the mansion's future as it had been assessing its preservation value.

Conservationists said the possible sale highlighted the urgency of setting up a mechanism to allow the transfer of development rights to safeguard the city's heritage without sacrificing private property rights.

"It is a private residence and the landlord has every right to sell it," Conservancy Association chairwoman Betty Ho Siu-fong said.

"I hope the old and the new landlords will treasure the uniqueness of the mansion. New villas can be built anywhere, but there is only this one mixed-style mansion."

She said the uncertainty over the mansion's fate also illustrated the urgency of establishing a heritage conservation policy. "We don't even know which bureau, home affairs or development, will be responsible for the protection of the mansion."

Property agents said the mansion had been put up in a private tender a few months ago. The tender closed in May. Mr Yow first launched a tender to sell the property in April 2004.

Built in 1936, the mansion's intricate oriental design and craftsmanship attracted the attention of conservationists. The tender prompted the Antiquities Advisory Board, the Conservancy Association and the Wan Chai District Council to launch campaigns to save the mansion.

It was understood Sun Hung Kai Properties and Cheung Kong (Holdings) were shortlisted. Mr Yow, however, withdrew the tender as the developers' bids were both under HK$400 million, well below the asking price of HK$500 million.

Property agents said the owner still wanted to sell the property, but the previous campaign had prompted him to avoid the limelight.

"It has been available on the market for the past three years but the owner and property agents want to make a low-profile sale," one agent said.

A woman who visited the house three years ago said the decor and furnishing were simple, not luxurious. "It's a Chinese-style building with simple furnishings. I don't think the property is worth preserving," she said.

45 Stubbs Road? I'll have to check it out...

HK$450m...bloody hell.

That's more than the HK$350m that the two in Chung Hom Kok are selling for...

Edit: Here we go:
http://www.conservancy.org.hk/heritage/KYL/KKL01.jpg

Link:
http://www.conservancy.org.hk/heritage/KYL_E.htm

45 Stubbs Road? I'll have to check it out...
Link:
http://www.conservancy.org.hk/heritage/KYL_E.htm
You can see the building from Stubb's Road but it sits below the road. Not much you can see without sneaking in.

Is that the one right next to Bradbury School?

Is that the one right next to Bradbury School?
Yes - a bit downhill from there.

Wan Chai Environmental Resource Centre

The building of Wan Chai Environmental Resource Centre was constructed in 1913. It was used as the Wan Chai Post Office from 1915 to 1992 and was declared as a historical building in 1990. It was renovated and became the first Environmental Resource Centre of the Environmental Protection Department in 1993. It is one element of the government's effort in building up an environmentally aware and well-informed community in Hong Kong - an essential first step in developing an improved environmental ethic within the community.

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070721/IMG_7962.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070721/IMG_7959.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070721/IMG_7961.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070721/IMG_7960.jpg

Hopes raised for historic market
Hong Kong Standard
Saturday, August 04, 2007

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070721/IMG_8020.jpg

With the Queen's Pier conservation conflict still fresh in people's minds, hopes have been raised that historic Wan Chai Market will not fall to the wrecker's ball.

Lau Wai-ming, executive director of mid-tier developer Chinese Estates, said on Friday that the company is still in talks with the Urban Renewal Authority on the future of the market building.

His remarks have raised optimism the 70-year-old building on Queen's Road East may be saved.

According to original plans agreed in 1996, Chinese Estates - controlled by billionaire Joseph Lau Luen-hung - and the URA are to jointly redevelop the site and turn it into a luxury residential-commercial complex.

"We know that preserving a historic monument has become a matter of great concern to the government and the community," Lau Wai-ming said. "We need to discuss with our partner [the URA] first before taking a stand on the issue. We still have not decided whether Wan Chai Market will be preserved or not. Yet retaining the market will certainly increase the cost of our residential project."

The authority has also confirmed it is discussing the market's future with the developer and that both parties will have to abide by their legal responsibilities and contract terms.

URA executive director Iris Tam Siu-ying told the Legislative Council two months ago the authority is obliged to honor the spirit of its contract with the developer.

Many of the stall owners at Wan Chai Market have said they will not move to a new government-owned indoor market nearby without satisfactory compensation.

Built in 1937, the market has been declared a Grade 3 historic building.

Its Streamline Moderne architectural style, with curvilinear profiles of parapets, railings and overhangs, was popular in the 1930s and has become a rarity in Hong Kong.

Chinese Estates plans to demolish the market soon to make way for The Zenith, which is being constructed in two phases. Phase One has been completed and the company has raked in HK$370 million from sales of the flats.

Construction work on Phase Two, requiring the demolition of Wan Chai Market building, is due to start early next year, for completion by mid-2011.

Vincent Ng Wing-shun, former president of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, said if Wan Chai Market were retained, it would set a good precedent for government policy on historic buildings in future.

Ng said the government might be anxious to make up for the Queen's Pier ruckus and avoid turning Wan Chai Market into the next conservation battleground.

"They really have to deliver it this time to show their sincerity and determination in achieving results. The government also has to seriously revamp its heritage policy," Ng said.

Lawmaker Patrick Lau Sau-shing, who represents the architecture sector, said he believed there is still room for negotiations to preserve Wan Chai Market.

"Of course, it's best to keep it. To begin dialogue is already a show of sincerity by both sides," he said.

However, James Tien Pei-chun, leader of the business-oriented Liberal Party, warned that any detour from the original agreement may hit developers' confidence.

"When a developer enters into a contract with the government, the contract itself should be honored," Tien said.

"The government should also let heritage conservation be part of the agreement as soon as possible."

Patsy Cheng Man-wah, of heritage advocacy group See Network, said what was more important was whether the government could keep up with conservation trends globally.

More options for pier on the table
Alternatives to preserving historic structures will be released for public consultation
3 August 2007
South China Morning Post

In the wake of the Queen's Pier saga, extra options to preserve the pier and the Star Ferry Pier's clock tower will be offered for public consultation by the end of October, government sources said yesterday.

Instead of releasing one model for consultation, the Development Bureau will provide multiple options, including reconstructing the pier and clock tower at their original sites, sources said, adding the future Central harbour-front design would be a chance for the government to show it had listened to the voice of the public.

The first round consultation on the new Central waterfront ended in June. Among the four designs recommended by the bureau earlier, it was suggested the clock tower be re-erected at the new waterfront, but now an option of reconstructing the clock tower at its original site is expected in the upcoming consultation document.

Meanwhile, members of Local Action Group took a rest yesterday, a day after being forcibly evicted by the government from the pier. The three hunger strikers are recovering and some members said they had returned to work.

Among the three protesters arrested by the police during the scuffles that broke out at the pier on Wednesday, cleaner Ma Chor-ming, 52, pleaded not guilty in Eastern Court yesterday to three counts of assaulting police officers. He was released on HK$300 bail yesterday.

Designer Fung Ping-tak, 41, who is under police supervision in hospital, also faces a charge of assaulting police. The case was adjourned until next Tuesday for re-mention.

The youngest protester, Wong Hang-chong, 17, who is known as Ah Cho, was arrested for wasting the time of police officers. He was released on HK$800 bail yesterday and he was not charged.

Yesterday, Queen's Pier was not only hidden by huge hoardings, but surrounded by columns of water barriers. About 50 police officers could be seen erecting iron railings as long as 100 metres to prevent anyone who may try to get closer to the pier yesterday morning. However, by 11am, the railings were removed.

Although the pier was blocked from public view, many people still came to pay homage.

Atkins China, the contractor in charge of the Central Reclamation project, refused to comment on whether it would sue the government for delaying the works.

Core member of the action group, Chu Hoi-dick, said members would need time to recover and new tactics would soon be formed for the next battle front for the pier.

"The next battle will be in court," he said, referring to the judicial review that has been scheduled for next Tuesday.

But Hectar Pun Hei, the barrister who has been helping activists to file the application, will not be available at the opening of the hearing.

Mr Chu said yesterday that another counsel had agreed to represent them.

About 50 people and Queen's Pier activists, including two of those arrested after the Wednesday scuffles with police officers, attended a forum at the site last night. One person at the forum accused the police of selectively arresting people on Wednesday without giving solid reasons. He said he would set up a post at the site to monitor the situation, while other speakers said the police had abused their power.

Cattle Depot Artist Village

Former Cattle Depot (Ngau Pang) in Ma Tau Kok, is a place of memory and identity in the district. Being a place for slaughter in the past, it has not been a welcoming spot among the neighbourhood. It is now used by artists as a place for exhibition and art creation. This change of use may have aroused interests in the neighbourhoods.

Description source : http://www.arch.cuhk.edu.hk/serverb/resch/livearch/projects-parti-ngaupang_right.html

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9866.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9865.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9875.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9872.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9868.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9877.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9883.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9885.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9888.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9889.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9890.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9882.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9892.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9894.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9895.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9896.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070804/IMG_9897.jpg

Performing arts centre planned for artists' site
Council to put To Kwa Wan cultural village to 'best use'
26 November 2006
South China Morning Post

An artists' village in To Kwa Wan may be turned into a centre for performing arts under a proposal from the Arts Development Council.

Council chairman Ma Fung-kwok said preliminary discussions had started with the government and relevant cultural bodies on the future of the Cattle Depot Artists' Village.

The historic building and a former abattoir and cattle quarantine station are owned by the Government Property Agency and rented to 20 or so theatre, music and visual arts groups.

"To be honest, the site can be better managed and artists are usually not very good managers," Mr Ma said. "Some artists live there, some plant flowers at the site, some use it as their storeroom and some do not even pay rent.

"This site is spacious and very suitable for the performing arts. We have all complained about the lack of venues and working space for local arts groups. So we should make the best use [of any space] when a place is available."

The proposal follows the announcement last week of plans to convert a nine-storey government factory building in Shek Kip Mei into a centre for visual arts. The HK$70 million Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre, to be opened late next year, will offer 100 studios to artists and arts groups for rents of HK$3 to HK$8 a square foot.

"We are also looking for other suitable venues for arts developments," Mr Ma said.

He believed the council would be given extra funds from the government in the next financial year to support budding artists and promote the arts. The council will not be responsible for the funding allocation of six major arts groups from next year, when the Home Affairs Bureau takes over the task. As a result, the council's budget could be slashed from about HK$90 million to HK$50 million.

Mr Ma said there should be new funds injected from the bureau, and together with HK$20 million from the Arts and Sports Development Fund designated for the council, the body would still have HK$80 million to spend.

"One option for spending the new money is to support more young arts groups," he said. "Another is to step up support to existing arts bodies. I think we should strike a balance between both."

The council's chairman said its two major tasks in future were to help arts groups to secure venues and to perform on the mainland. Mr Ma and leaders of several arts groups had visited the Pearl River Delta last month to explore new opportunities.

"Arts groups need their own space to develop. Also, going to the mainland will definitely raise their horizons and performance levels. It is good for the council to be more focused on budding artists and this will fit into our role as an arts development body."

Opinion : Exchange system can help to save important heritage sites
7 August 2007
South China Morning Post

A group of legislative councillors visited Macau's heritage sites and suggested Hong Kong follows Macau's good example when formulating heritage conservation policies.

They suggest the Hong Kong government follows Macau, through land exchanges. Under Macau law the government has the first option to buy a heritage building and can "exchange it for a plot of land of a similar size" ("Macau's lesson for HK on saving the past", July 28).

Like Macau, Hong Kong faces the struggle of economic development as opposed to heritage conservation. The use of land exchanges to facilitate the preservation of heritage sites is not impossible in Hong Kong but there will be some hurdles. A new and clearly-defined set of land policies to permit these land exchanges needs to be thoroughly considered and agreed by the Executive Council.

If the land to be used to exchange for a heritage site is wholly a piece of government land, we need to consider a fair system to determine which heritage site will be exchanged.

We may need to fine-tune the existing grading system for heritage sites. A fair system can help minimise the grey areas and help guard against corruption.

In addition, in the urban area of Hong Kong, the plot ratio for non-domestic and domestic use under the buildings (planning) regulations are 15 and eight (for Class A site) respectively unless they are otherwise controlled under the outline zoning plans or the lease conditions.

Obviously, it is not difficult to foresee that a landowner will develop his/her land up to its permissible plot ratio.

If the land can enjoy additional plot ratio as a result of the transfer of plot ratio of the heritage site under exchange, these extra gross floor areas may result in the permissible plot ratio under the building regulations being exceeded. We may need to amend the building regulations to facilitate heritage conservation policies as well.

I hope our government will study the effectiveness of the policies and implementation measures thoroughly and consult the public.

Phoebe Wong, North Point

Pier pressure builds in Hong Kong
By Stephanie Holmes
BBC News

Everyone in Hong Kong seems to agree on one thing about Queen's Pier, a 1950s-built platform at the centre of violent protests about its future: it is no architectural masterpiece.


But the white concrete structure, which sits diminutively on the edge of Victoria Harbour, amid the city's shining skyscrapers and endless high-rises, evokes powerful reactions.

Plans to pull it down to make way for a by-pass have been greeted with angry protests, all-night vigils and even hunger strikes.

A very vocal section of Hong Kong's normally conservative, pragmatic residents have been fired up at what they see as the latest attempt to bulldoze one of the city's rapidly diminishing number of colonial-era structures.

Past and future

A court in Hong Kong is due to begin hearing an application on 7 August challenging the decision to remove the structure.

"This is another little piece of Hong Kong's history," says Stephen Davies, director of Hong Kong's Maritime Museum.

"Queen's Pier was always part of the eye-line, a familiar landing point. If you ask the average Hong Kong resident about the island's waterfront that's what they would say - it's Star Ferry, it's Queen's Pier," he told the BBC News website.

The current structure, built in 1954, was created to serve a ceremonial and symbolic function, becoming the first point where the new governors of Hong Kong would arrive on land.

When Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1997, it was from Queen's Pier that the final governor, Chris Patten, departed.

For Ronald Lu, president of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, the pier is an intricate part of the territory's history.

"Architecturally, it is not a significant masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination," he says.

"But it has a legacy. If we forget about Queen's Pier then there is no relationship between Hong Kong and its history. It needs to be explained to future generations that Hong Kong is different to other cities in mainland China," he says.

Rocking the boat

The protests - organised by students, conservationists, environmentalists and civic action groups - have paid off so far and the pier, closed in late April, won a last-minute reprieve in early August.

A judicial review will now evaluate whether the government should reconsider a decision not to classify the structure as a monument, which would save it.

For Steve Tsang, of St Anthony's College, Oxford, the campaign to save Queen's Pier is motivated by a mixture of sentimentality and practicality.

"It [the destruction of Queen's Pier] represents unrelenting development, environmental degradation and disregard of heritage sites. That is what people are reacting against," he says.

"While people feel pretty powerless to stop polluted air passing over Hong Kong, at least they can actively try to save the pier," he told the BBC News website, adding that it was also probably the site of many a first kiss.

Ten years after the handover, he said, people feel more confident about speaking out.

"It's not that unusual that people get sentimental. In fact, the real question is, in such a wealthy society, why people aren't more demanding?" he asks.

The destruction of the pier is part of a broader redevelopment project to improve the city's infrastructure, and some of the reclaimed land will help build what the government says are vital transport links across Hong Kong.

Invisible sea

Even the Institute of Architects - which supports the protesters' aims, if not their methods - understands the government's infrastructure dilemma.

"Hong Kong has good crossings from north to south of the island but not from east to west," acknowledges Mr Lu. "The government is trying to address traffic problems."

As Mr Tsang adds, "In development terms, Hong Kong has a history of caring about some of its sites and heritage, but there just hasn't been as much of a desire to preserve as one would expect."

For the past 150 years, Hong Kong has been a city in flux.

It was transformed from a trading port into a centre for light industry and, in its latest incarnation, a global hub for the services industry.

Change is part of Hong Kong's DNA. With those changes Hong Kong has reclaimed land from the sea, swallowing more of its own harbour and altering its waterfront each time.

"Since 1841, the waterfront has moved forward four times," says Stephen Davies. "Hong Kong island has been moving seawards since the 1850s and becoming progressively bigger.

"What actually made Hong Kong - its sea trade - has become invisible."

------------
Quoted from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6933255.stm#map

Submissions highlight weaknesses of heritage conservation system
8 August 2007
South China Morning Post

The submissions made by both parties of the judicial review into the preservation of Queen's Pier yesterday highlighted the weaknesses of the system for heritage conservation.

Historic buildings are assessed by the Antiquities Advisory Board, which grades them into one of three categories. Grade one structures, such as the Queen's Pier, are regarded as "buildings of outstanding merit", which the government should make every effort to preserve.

However, the grading is not a statutory process, and it does not necessarily protect a site. Five of the 151 grade one buildings have been demolished over the past 30 years, government records show. If historic buildings are to be saved, they have to go through a second assessment system, which declares historic buildings as monuments. The Antiquities Authority, which makes the decision, may or may not consult the advisory board, the ordinance states.

Barrister Benjamin Yu SC, for the government, said yesterday that not all advisory board members had heritage expertise. He said that civil servants working for the Antiquities and Monuments Office, who studied history and conservation, were experts.

Some of the advisory board's meetings were opened to the public from 2005 but unlike the Town Planning Board, its decisions are not necessarily adopted by the government or the authority. Also, board members are appointed by the chief executive instead of elected by professional groups and universities.

The reorganisation of bureaus this year further undermined the authority's credibility. Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, who was appointed Antiquities Authority, is also the secretary for development. Previously, the duty of the Antiquities Authority had fallen to the secretary for home affairs.

Without a clear and fair heritage conservation policy, critics say Mrs Lam's roles conflict. If the government loses in the judicial review, she may find herself in a position to reconsider having to declare the pier a monument, critics say.

Other questions raised were: what are the criteria for declaring monuments and the exact relationship between the advisory board, the monuments office and the Antiquities Authority.

Council runs jail tours in bid to save historic Central complex
6 December 2006
South China Morning Post

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20030311/RIMG1320.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20030311/RIMG1322.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20030311/RIMG1324.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20030311/RIMG1328.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20030311/RIMG1330.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20030311/RIMG1326.jpg


Nine thousand people will get a glimpse of life behind bars over three weekends next month as part of a campaign to save the historic Central Police Station complex from commercial redevelopment.

Trained guides will lead visitors on tours of the 150-year-old Victoria Prison, organised by the Central and Western District Council, explaining daily prison life and demonstrating prisoners' tasks.

Democratic Party district councillor Kam Nai-wai said it was hoped the open days would boost the public's knowledge of and respect for the city's heritage, and show the government that turning the heritage site into a commercial project was not the only solution.

The cluster of buildings on the Hollywood Road site - the prison, the Central Police Station and the Central Magistracy - have been declared monuments, which protects them from demolition.

It had been planned to call for tenders to redevelop the site commercially, but protests forced the government to reopen the consultation. No decision has been made.

"We hope the public will join us to persuade the government none of the buildings should be demolished," Mr Kam said.

Henderson Land general manager for sales Tony Tse Wai-chuen said: "Development doesn't equal demolition. The most important thing is the historic buildings will have economic value. Preservation shouldn't rely on public coffers."

Henderson Land and Town Gas put up HK$100,000 to sponsor the open days.

The prison will be open on January 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 and 21. Tickets are available at www.hkticketing.com or by phone at 3128 8288. Tickets are HK$25 but Central and Western District students can buy tickets for HK$20 at the Caritas Centre.

Fair's pictorial books on heritage prove popular with youth
20 July 2007
South China Morning Post

Hong Kong's young readers are turning to books on local culture and history, made more accessible by a growing popularity of "comic essays".

Nestled among the vast variety of books at the Book Fair are many types of pictorial books, which tell the story of Hong Kong, including tales of Queen's Pier and the old Kai Tak airport.

One author, Albert Sung, who has written and illustrated The Sung Family - a story of his family's life with a history of Hong Kong as a backdrop - said these kinds of books often reflected local culture and history, interspersed with black humour and social commentary.

That these books have more images than words, Mr Sung said, made them more attractive to young readers brought up on comic books.

"Young people don't like words too much," he said. "They often find hard-data history books too boring. These books are certainly an easier approach to telling them the history of local culture."

He added that a lot of younger readers turned to history as a means of finding their own identity.

Urban sociologist Denny Ho Kwok-leung from the Polytechnic University said many young people were not confident about their future, so they looked back to the old days as a way of dealing with the present.

"They use collective memories to romanticise the past for the redevelopment of the future, to reinstall the past generation or to protect the good old days." he said.

He explained that a lot of young people saw the past as more idyllic than the future, while some adults also refused to embrace adulthood, remaining "kidults".

The comic essays may be a new form of media, Dr Ho said, but he was worried about their use. "It may result in a lack of imagination among younger readers," he said.

Preserving Shek Kip Mei
http://www.meihohouse.hk/competition/eindex.php

Shek Kip Mei Estate was Hong Kong’s first resettlement estate with a long history of more than 50 years. It also marked the beginning of public housing development in the city. Having regard to Mei Ho House’s significant role in the history of public housing, it has been accorded Grade I historic building status by the Antiquities Advisory Board in 2005. With the redevelopment of Shek Kip Mei Estate, Mei Ho House is the last “H” shaped resettlement block still standing in Hong Kong. In line with Shek Kip Mei Estate’s redevelopment, the Competition will encourage members of Hong Kong’s professional institutes/associations of Architects, Engineers, Planners, Surveyors, Landscape Architects and Designers and the general public to suggest creative ideas that will rekindle the life of Mei Ho House and its vicinity.

http://www.hkia.net/news_picture/MHHIC_poster_web.jpg

擁70年歷史 數十萬元「復古」
赤柱郵局重塑舊貌
17/08/2007
太陽報

http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20070817/img/sn05081702_big.jpg

http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20070817/img/sn05081703_big.jpg

http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20070817/img/sn05081704_big.jpg

http://orientaldaily.on.cc/photo/20070817/new/0817nhko23b2.jpg

【記者張偉光報道】香港郵政決定動用數十萬元保留全港最古老、擁有七十年歷史的赤柱郵政局。郵局全面翻新後，外貌和內部裝置全面復修至三、四十年代時的樣貌，除提供郵政服務外，亦能成為赤柱旅遊景區的新成員。

展現佐治六世時期風格
赤柱郵政局位於黃麻角道二號的一間單層小屋建築物，面積約只有五百平方呎，自一九三七年落成至今的用途都是郵政局。香港郵政內部經討論後，認為該建築物有歷史價值，亦可作為旅遊景點，故決定保留有關郵政局，並投放資源翻新。

赤柱郵政局開放至明（十八）日後便會暫時停止服務，翻新工程隨即在下周一（二十日）展開，預計到今年十一月底前完成。工程包括翻新外觀，但會盡量保留原貌，而內部將會由現時較現代化的陳設，復修至三、四十年代的仿古裝潢；並拆除現有假天花，展示原有橫樑屋頂，櫃位將用回當年的設計，令人可感受英王佐治六世時的建築風格。

而香港郵政將安排休局期間，在黃麻角道十四號（即赤柱郵政局鄰近）的赤柱公立醫局附近停車場，設置流動郵政車為赤柱居民提供郵政服務。

香港郵政較早前曾諮詢南區區議會意見，該區區議員歡迎決定，認為有助推介赤柱一些具特色的建築物成為區內的景點，亦能保留其實用價值。

Tours promote Central heritage
17 August 2007
South China Morning Post

The Central and Western District Council is organising tours to raise public awareness of its remaining heritage after the destruction of the Star Ferry and Queen's piers, and the looming removal of other landmarks.

It will hold walking tours of eight streets between now and late next month.

These will take visitors to places of interest such as the Duddell Street Steps, Staunton Street, Hollywood Road, Lyndhurst Terrace, Graham Street, Pottinger Street and Li Yuen Street east and west, as well as the lane known as Chop Street.

"Central has lots of historical edifices," said district councillor Kam Nai-wai. "It is a place with character and should be preserved."

He said the two piers had raised public concern about community conservation, and the tours would help people appreciate the district and understand the importance of conservation.

The 15-metre-long Man Wa Lane, dubbed Chop Street because it has more than 20 stalls with craftsmen carving personal seals from stones, is one of the highlights.

Hiking Association chairman Johnny Chow Kwok-keung, one of the guides, said most of the stalls had operated for two generations and "display delicate craftsmanship".

Lyndhurst Terrace, built in the 1840s, was infamous for brothels in the late 19th century. The area is now home to a well-known traditional flower market.

Participants will be introduced to the characteristics of the eight streets by professional guides. There are tours conducted in Putonghua, English and Cantonese.

Tour charges are HK$10 per person. Advanced bookings are required. Interested parties may call Hong Lok Travel on 2246 9223.

Call for antiquities board to be replaced
20 August 2007
South China Morning Post

An independent statutory body with the authority to declare monuments should be set up to replace the Antiquities Advisory Board, a conservationist said yesterday.

The idea of a heritage conservation board was proposed by People's Council for Sustainable Development chairman Albert Lai Kwong-tak at a forum organised by Local Action, which led the campaign to prevent the demolition of Queen's Pier. "It should have the power to declare not only historical buildings as monuments, but also intangible items of historical interest," he said.

Mr Lai's group is an NGO that was established in September 2003 to push for sustainable development in the city.

Regarding Mr Justice Johnson Lam Man-hon's judgment on the judicial review over the ferry terminal, he said the power and the discretion to declare a building a monument were in the hands of the Antiquities Authority, while the board played only an advisory role.

Mr Lai suggested that the conservation board have a two-tier structure, with subcommittees in eastern and western New Territories, eastern and western Kowloon, and Hong Kong Island to consult the public.

Meanwhile, Chu Hoi-dick, a core member of Local Action, said it would make a decision on whether to appeal against its defeat in the judicial review in the next few days.

About 20 members of the group made more than 100 paper planes and a huge paper crane penned with their best wishes for the pier in Edinburgh Place before yesterday's forum. They flew the paper planes over hoardings and water barriers at the site.

Mr Chu said some members wanted to stand as candidates in the coming district council elections to air their heritage opinions. Local Action and Heritage Watch, a loose alliance of conservation groups, was also planning to hold a forum for candidates of the Legco by-election for Hong Kong Island to urge them to include heritage conservation in their platforms.

Separately, the Chinese University Student Union started an online petition urging the government to explain how it would balance conservation and development.

A taste of the past will benefit our city
21 August 2007
South China Morning Post

The discussion about preserving Hong Kong's past and present has focused on sights: buildings, street markets and ferry piers. A society is about more than what we see around us, though; if the picture is to be truly complete, we have to also consider our senses of smell, hearing, touch and taste.

A cultural expert rightly pointed this out at the Food Expo yesterday, saying that there are a number of types of food that our city can call its own. We should, he suggests, make every effort to keep these for the enjoyment of future generations.

Many younger residents, growing up surrounded by fast-food restaurants, have probably never tasted these - chicken pie, egg tarts and che chai noodles among them. Not having eaten them, nor will they have ventured into the small restaurants in older parts of Hong Kong where people from generally not-so-young generations put their heart and soul into preparing and cooking such specialities.

Hong Kong is the home of these foods. They were created here and their recipes have been passed down through the generations. Just as development is threatening buildings and streetscapes, so too are these tastes of Hong Kong in danger of disappearing. Fast food is taking away potential customers. Shops are being torn down to make way for redevelopment. The cooks are ageing, and the low pay and hot kitchens are unattractive to younger generations, who can secure office jobs that not only pay better, but also offer air-conditioned comfort.

Tastes change with time, of course. So do trends: a gleaming fast-food restaurant is, perhaps, a more fashionable place for young people to hang out with friends than a somewhat less modern establishment in a run-down part of town. Some teenagers would prefer to be seen eating western food than a steaming bowl of noodles.

The expert says it is a matter of perceptions; that if parents took their children to sample such specialities, they might like them and word would spread. If the government and media helped out, there is a good chance that this part of our culture would be saved. Perhaps the restaurants would even become part of the tourist trail.

Culture cannot be forced on people. Over time, aspects are either embraced, adapted or discarded by societies. The matter is not one of policy, but likes and dislikes. Nonetheless, the issue is a valid one which should be considered as the discussion about Hong Kong's heritage, in a wider sense, continues.

Activists to turn attention to reforming preservation system
27 August 2007
South China Morning Post

Activists from Local Action have decided not to appeal against the ruling over the fate of Queen's Pier because of the "unbearable financial risk". Instead, they will shift their focus to reforming the heritage preservation system.

"Although we could still debate this case on legal grounds, we would need to bear an unbearable financial risk because the chance of getting legal aid to pursue the case is very bleak," Chu Hoi-dick and Ho Loy of Local Action said in a statement yesterday.

The group will now try to "reform the current heritage preservation system; in particular, to change the current shortcoming about the excessive power of the Antiquities Authority chief".

On August 10, High Court Justice Johnson Lam Man-hon declared lawful former home affairs secretary Patrick Ho Chi-ping's decision against granting monument status to Queen's Pier. This ruling cleared the way for not only its demolition, but also the final stage of the Central reclamation project, which began 10 years ago.

Speaking after the judgment, the activists - who initiated the judicial review of Dr Ho's decision - said they were disappointed the judgment did not mention the need to review a "seriously outdated and flawed" ordinance on heritage conservation and were discussing with their lawyers the possibility of an appeal.

Local Action's legal representative had earlier argued that Dr Ho, who was then the Antiquities Authority, acted improperly by not adopting the May recommendation of the Antiquities Advisory Board to grant the pier Grade I status. The guidelines state that every effort should be made to preserve Grade I structures.

Yet Justice Lam said in his ruling that the power and the discretion to declare a building a monument belonged to the authority under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance.

Members of Local Action camped at the pier for three months until the August 1 deadline for clearing the pier before demolition proceeded.

"We failed to save the pier, but we've gained the public echo on preserving the public space," said Ip Lam-chong, another Local Action member.

"Hongkongers are much more concerned about the demolition of historical architecture and public space than before."

Meanwhile, a team of engineers and activists will be formed to monitor the demolition of Queen's Pier. Mr Ip said they were worried components of the historic structure would be damaged while it was being dismantled.

"We urge government to replace the barriers around the site with transparent plastic hoardings so the public can see what's happening," he said.

Heritage preservation grips Hong Kong amid building boom

Sun Sep 9, 2007 10:41PM EDT

By James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters) - In the dim confines of the time-worn Wing Woo grocery, a short hop from Hong Kong's gleaming financial towers, Kwan Moon-chiu, 73, quietly arranges supplies of salted-fish and eggs, knowing his store's days are numbered.

"This shop is 130 years old, I have deep feelings for it. But if the government wants to tear it down, what can I do?" he said.

The plight of Kwan's rickety store, which faces demolition for a massive urban renewal project, embodies the dilemma faced in Hong Kong -- one of the world's most densely populated places with 7 million residents -- of whether to raze or save.

While development has long taken precedent over heritage preservation -- the recent demise of two iconic colonial-era piers sparked widespread public outrage among Hong Kongers tired of seeing their history effaced in the name of progress.

"I would see it as a major social movement in Hong Kong and it's an emerging attitude among the young," said Lee Ho Yin, an architectural conservation expert at the University of Hong Kong.

Activists who chained themselves to the doomed piers and who wrote protest banners in their own blood helped foment heritage-preservation an emotive, hot-button civil cause, alongside other long-established Hong Kong issues like the push for greater democracy and social equality.

"Our city would be identical to any other, lacking personality. It would just be blasts of glass, steel and concrete blocks," said Hong Kong resident Bonnie Yiu.

Kwan's shop stands to be demolished in a controversial HK$487 million redevelopment that rips the heart out of one of Hong Kong's oldest neighbourhoods centered on Central's last surviving street market on Graham and Peel Streets.

Thirty-seven mostly post-war tenement blocks will be replaced by four 30-40-storey skyscrapers including a hotel and new shops that will displace the quirky, old stores including noodle-makers and incense sellers lining the narrow, sloping streets.

The numerous, boisterous street hawkers selling all manner of produce from broccoli to live crabs in wicker baskets and pig trotters hung on metal hooks also face an uncertain fate.

"This market must really be preserved for its historical, economic and social value," said Katty Law, an activist with a network of social and heritage groups who have been campaigning against the project.

"Other countries have charters guiding the preservation of old areas but Hong Kong has never done this," Law added.

In the 1950s -- Hong Kong's waterfront was still filled with red-brick Edwardian and Victorian buildings with columns and elaborate facades. These have since been largely demolished.

A historic Victorian building called Murray House was dismantled and rebuilt in 1999 on the other side of the island in a manner which critics say was tasteless and failed to preserve its original character.

Neighboring Macau on the other hand -- which is even more densely populated than Hong Kong -- has managed to preserve much of its historic Portuguese core -- and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The chairman of Hong Kong's Urban Renewal Authority, Barry Cheung, defended the development project by saying it would create more open, greener spaces, resettle residents now stuck in the decrepit buildings and generally gentrify the area.

"If somehow through what we do or what we haven't done, that street market dies, then I'll take it upon myself as having failed," Cheung told Reuters. But he said he was also "touched" by the wave of public concerns regarding heritage preservation and was willing to rethink existing plans for the market.

"Not everything has been cast in stone," he said.

MATURING SOCIETY

With Hong Kong marking its tenth anniversary since returning from British to Chinese rule, observers say the city's growing civil activism -- of which heritage preservation has become a part -- is tied to a greater sense of belonging and a desire to preserve the city's cultural roots and unique identity.

"Up to 1997, people were not focused on the living environment because Hong Kong had a sell-by date," said Paul Zimmerman, an expatriate activist opposed to the reclamation of large chunks of Victoria harbor for redevelopment.

"The whole mentality has changed," he added.

But for activists like Chu Hoi-dick -- who fought to save Queen's Pier -- Hong Kong's heritage activism boils down to a simple lack of democracy and the government's heavy-handed policy-making without adequately involving the public.

"I do not deny this is just the beginning of a new political movement. It is a movement to re-establish the identity of Hong Kong people, not controlled by the British and not controlled by Beijing," said Chu.

Hong Kong's Urban Renewal Authority has said it will preserve several older buildings in the area including the facade of the Wing Woo grocery -- but some say the development will still bleed the district of its vitality and color.

"What makes Hong Kong such a unique city is all the local markets, otherwise it's just the same as any other city," said Aaron Martin, one of many tourists who flock to the market daily to soak up its quintessential Hong Kong charm.

(Additional reporting by Farah Master)

-----------------
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/inDepthNews/idUSHKG23926620070910

Hong Kong's temple for slackers

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 10/09/2007

Man Mo Temple is a sandlewood-scented haven in the smoggy sprawl of Hong Kong, says Steven King.

You couldn't call it an "attraction", but in the past few years the air itself in Hong Kong has become a "sight" - something for visitors to marvel at. Day and night a smutty haze hangs over the city, most of it blown in from the factories of the Pearl River delta, which are multiplying a few miles to the west in mainland China.

Worshippers burn incense at Man Mo Temple, Hong Kong's temple for slackers
Man Mo Temple has become popular with schoolchildren, Kung Fu stars and Triad members

One of the loveliest spots in Hong Kong is also one of the most thoroughly polluted - if sandalwood-scented incense counts as a pollutant. Man Mo Temple is squashed among the looming apartment blocks and overflowing antique shops of Hollywood Road. It was built in 1847, which makes it, by Hong Kong standards, a genuine relic.

Whether you're a temple fancier or not, Man Mo is oddly moving. The air is thick with burning incense. Row upon row of huge conical coils waft prayers beyond the rafters to the spirit world. Shafts of light struggle to filter through. Altars and shrines glimmer in the holy smoke. At the back stand statues of the god of literature (Man) and the god of war (Mo). Man wields his calligraphy brush, Mo his sword. Worshippers arrange tidy piles of roast pork, chicken and oranges as offerings to the deities.

There are 600-plus temples in Hong Kong, both Buddhist and Taoist. Despite some differences of emphasis, the two religions rub along comfortably. The nominally Taoist Man Mo has long been popular with schoolchildren - or at least with their ambitious parents. The real-life Man, born in AD287, is said to have ruled the careers of civil servants. Now fleets of BMW-borne families make the pilgrimage to Man Mo to suck up to Man. Youngsters rub his gold-encrusted writing hand for good luck, and parents can buy stationery that the scholastic god has somehow officially blessed.

The temple isn't just for swots: there's something for slackers, too. Mo may be shunned by the brainiacs, but he was a distinguished fellow in his own warlike way. Some 1,800 years ago, his prowess in battle made him a hero, and he came to embody loyalty and righteousness. Today he's the patron saint of policemen, kung-fu stars and triad members.

Blueprint exposes delays on heritage
Plan to save old sites ignored for 8 years
10 September 2007
South China Morning Post

A blueprint for a heritage conservation policy was drafted and endorsed by a government advisory body eight years ago, a government document has revealed. But it was largely ignored and historic buildings have since been demolished.

In another sign of government foot-dragging, a public consultation launched earlier this year repeated questions originally put forward three years ago.

A policy document, prepared and endorsed by the Antiquities and Advisory Board in 1999, recommended measures to revamp the conservation system, including financial incentives to encourage landowners to protect historic properties.

It called for more power for the Antiquities and Monuments Office, and hastening of the grading process of 8,000 pre-1950s buildings.

The document was written against the backdrop of the 1999 policy address, in which former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa called for a review of heritage policy.

It asked the government to look into the compensation involved in heritage protection. Among the recommendations were a set of incentive schemes, such as bonuses and transfer of development rights, extended leases, land premium exemption and tax incentives.

The government was also asked to explore the feasibility of a development levy to ensure a steady funding source for heritage preservation. And it advised that appropriate use be found for historic buildings that were lying empty.

Suggestions in the document were further reinforced by a policy recommendation report submitted by the Culture and Heritage Commission in 2003, which was headed by Chang Hsin-kang, former president of City University.

The commission said the government should consider establishing a heritage conservation board, directly headed by the Home Affairs Bureau, to take on wider responsibilities.

It urged the government to encourage private owners to protect heritage, adding that the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust Fund covered mainly promotion and education.

In response to the recommendations, a consultation was launched in 2004 in which the public was asked what to conserve, how to conserve it, how much should be paid and who should pay. Those questions were put to the public again this year.

Desmond Hui Cheuk-kuen, a former member of the Antiquities Advisory Board, said: "It was disappointing, it is unnecessary for the government to step back to square one."

He said some historic buildings had been demolished during the eight years of consultation.

"Only 607 buildings have been graded, and 54 of them have been demolished since 1980. Unlike monuments, historic buildings are not legally protected from development."

A government spokeswoman said the future set-up of the Antiquities and Monuments Office would be examined in the context of the review of heritage conservation policy, adding that the government would formulate a host of improvement measures for further public consultation by the end of the year.

RTHK News:
Move to declare mansion monument (http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/news/englishnews/20070914/news_20070914_56_431757.htm)

Govt move to prevent mansion's demolition (http://www.rthk.org.hk/rthk/news/englishnews/20070914/news_20070914_56_431814.htm)

-- That Owner is really irresponible to the future generations!!!!!!!!!! :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash:

King Yin Lei declared proposed monument
*

Secretary for Development Carrie Lam says King Yin Lei, an antique building at 45 Stubbs Road, will be declared a proposed monument, after gaining the unanimous support of the Antiquities Advisory Board members.

Speaking after meeting the board at a special meeting today in her capacity as the Antiquities Authority, Mrs Lam said the declaration will be gazetted tomorrow and take immediate effect. The declaration will be valid for 12 months, enabling the authority to consider whether the building should be declared a monument and to negotiate preservation options with the owner.

Once a building has been declared a proposed monument, it will be subject to stringent controls, including the ban of any building or other works to demolish, remove, obstruct, deface or interfere with it without a permit.

Mrs Lam stressed the Government has no intention to interfere with any property transactions, adding the Antiquities & Monuments Ordinance empowers the Government to preserve antique buildings.

The board's Chairman Edward Ho hailed the Government's decisive action. He urged antique building owners to discuss with the Government options to preserve such buildings, achieving a win-win situation.

Government departments inspected works at the building yesterday. While no demolition has been conducted, people on site have been reminded that approval must be obtained before continuing work.
---------------------------------
http://news.gov.hk/en/category/healthandcommunity/070914/html/070914en05002.htm

Conservation Concept for Nga Tsin Wai Village

http://www.ura.org.hk/usrImg/1002000/overview.jpg
http://www.ura.org.hk/usrImg/1002000/K1_-_Art01.jpg
http://www.ura.org.hk/usrImg/1002000/K1_-_Art02.jpg
http://www.ura.org.hk/usrImg/1002000/K1_-_Art03.jpg
http://www.ura.org.hk/usrImg/1002000/K1_-_Blockplan.jpg

^^ Looking at the existing picture (first one) and the concept drawing (second one), it doesn't seem like there the small buildings are even existed today besides the existing Tin Hau Temple (in orange roof). According to the URA, only 12% of the existing buildings are original which are in very bad shape and reday to fall apart. All the structures need to be rebuilt basically, but then it's just another creation of Ngong Ping Market.

Then the two towers on both sides don't fit in the village setting at all. In order to squeeze more traditional looking house in the site, the buildings have to be raised in the air. How tall are they going to be? Structurally, I am sure they can be designed and built to look that way, but is it even feasible to do that. The narrow bottom core has to be so strong to hold up the entire building. It has to somehow transfer the load from the peripheral back into the central core and also withstand the big moment due to heavy wind load.

I would rather the site is filled with some short buildings, maybe 10-20 floors.
Maintain the key central aisle in front of the temple, with small houses on both side, like a park in between some short buildings with ground level retail. I think it will probably be better than this with two tall walls on both sides. There are a lot of temple sin HKI are surrounding by short buildings, and the contrast is still here and everything fit in the community.

This new concept plan just don't go along with me.

King Yin Lei declared proposed monument
*

Secretary for Development Carrie Lam says King Yin Lei, an antique building at 45 Stubbs Road, will be declared a proposed monument, after gaining the unanimous support of the Antiquities Advisory Board members.

Speaking after meeting the board at a special meeting today in her capacity as the Antiquities Authority, Mrs Lam said the declaration will be gazetted tomorrow and take immediate effect. The declaration will be valid for 12 months, enabling the authority to consider whether the building should be declared a monument and to negotiate preservation options with the owner.

Once a building has been declared a proposed monument, it will be subject to stringent controls, including the ban of any building or other works to demolish, remove, obstruct, deface or interfere with it without a permit.

Mrs Lam stressed the Government has no intention to interfere with any property transactions, adding the Antiquities & Monuments Ordinance empowers the Government to preserve antique buildings.

The board's Chairman Edward Ho hailed the Government's decisive action. He urged antique building owners to discuss with the Government options to preserve such buildings, achieving a win-win situation.

Government departments inspected works at the building yesterday. While no demolition has been conducted, people on site have been reminded that approval must be obtained before continuing work.
---------------------------------
http://news.gov.hk/en/category/healthandcommunity/070914/html/070914en05002.htm

Releated Document from the HK Gov't Gazette (http://www.gld.gov.hk/cgi-bin/gld/egazette/gazettefiles.cgi?lang=e&extra=e&year=2007&month=9&day=15&vol=11&no=38&header=0&acurrentpage=2&df=0&agree=1&part=1&newfile=1&pid=)

http://orientaldaily.on.cc/photo/20070915/new/0915nhkm01b1.jpg

http://orientaldaily.on.cc/photo/20070915/new/0915nhkm01b2.jpg

http://orientaldaily.on.cc/photo/20070915/new/0915nhkm01b5.jpg

One more reason for a clear heritage policy
16 September 2007
South China Morning Post

The bulldozers and demolition workers have, thankfully, stopped their destructive work at King Yin Lei mansion after being ordered to stand down by the government. But while the Antiquities Authority now has a year to ponder whether to declare it a monument, the future direction of our city's heritage policy remains unclear. A new direction is clearly needed and lessons must be learned from this latest in a string of controversies.

In 1999, the then chief executive Tung Chee-hwa called for a review of heritage policy. The government launched one public consultation in 2004 and then another in January this year. Both dealt with broad principles rather than specifics. More detailed proposals are expected later this year in yet another consultation.

In the years since 1999 the public has often cried foul when it became clear that a building or landmark was under threat. They include Kom Tong Hall in Mid-Levels, Dragon Garden in Sham Tseng, Jessville in Pok Fu Lam, the Star Ferry piers in Central and Queen's Pier. Each time the government has scrambled to react. There is an urgent need for a more sophisticated and innovative approach.

Similar problems have arisen with valuable ecological sites. The Sha Lo Tung valley in Tai Po, rich with dragonflies and butterflies, and Sham Chung, a wetland in Sai Kung, were the subject of controversy when landowners proposed building on them.

The century-old National Trust in Britain, a charity independent of the government, may be one example from which to learn. Its mandate is to protect and maintain threatened coastline and countryside, not just historic buildings. In many instances, the well-funded organisation simply buys the land or property outright.

Clearly, Hong Kong needs to take a similarly integrated approach to conservation, be it of ecological sites or heritage buildings. The government must balance conservation and development, property rights and heritage protection. It is a complex issue, but one which needs to be resolved.

In the case of nature conservation, the government already has a policy to encourage partnerships with landowners in return for the lifting of its ban on development in less ecologically sensitive parts of the New Territories. This is done in return for the owners making a commitment to conserve the site. Its aim is to revive valuable ecological sites at risk of degradation and neglect. It remains to be seen how successful that scheme will be. But it is the sort of creative move which is needed to protect our physical heritage. We need to work out what is worth preserving and how this can be achieved.

The ultimate status of King Yin Lei is still in question. It remains to be seen whether it can be restored to its former glory, even if declared a monument.

While the fate of the mansion is in the balance, a new policy must be put in place. Hong Kong needs an integrated system operated by a body with the necessary authority, expertise and financial resources to effectively manage our city's long-term heritage protection and conservation.

Experts say thousands of historic buildings at risk
Official list of graded buildings tip of iceberg, says activist
16 September 2007
South China Morning Post

There are thousands of buildings in Hong Kong which could be demolished without drawing public attention, conservationists have warned.

The bleak warning followed a last-minute decision to classify the King Yin Lei mansion on Stubbs Road as a potential monument - only after the owner embarked on a two-day demolition binge on the building's distinctive features.

Even as Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced the new classification on Friday, jackhammers continued pulverising the 71-year-old building.

Albert Lai Kwong-tak, chairman of the People's Council for Sustainable Development, said there were 10 times as many buildings of historical value than were mentioned on a list released by the Antiquities and Monuments Office in January.

That list graded 496 buildings from one to three. The 117 which are graded one are closest to becoming monuments. However, the gradings do not give the buildings legal protection. King Yin Lei was not on the list.

Mr Lai said The Falls, the home built on The Peak by Sir Robert Ho Tung, chief comprador of Jardine Matheson and a financier of the Chinese revolution, was one example. Another was a mansion at 64 Kennedy Road, Wan Chai.

"There are many buildings in Hong Kong that are even grander than King Yin Lei and they are not on any list," Mr Lai said. "There are less familiar ones that are being lost every day; treasures all over Hong Kong which very few people know about.

"The lesson from King Yin Lei is this kind of thing can happen every single day without us even knowing. You can't expect conservationists to be doing inspection tours 24 hours a day all over Hong Kong."

Mr Lai said the partial destruction of King Yin Lei highlighted the inadequacy of government heritage policy, which he said was also harsh on owners of historic properties.

"If they [the government] can't do a proper assessment over the last three years but they can do it in 48 hours, there must be something going on," he said.

Paul Zimmerman, of Designing Hong Kong, said the owner had resorted to vandalism to get government attention. He said the then owner had made it clear he wanted to sell in 2000 and the Town Planning Board had inspected the site in January 2003.

"The owner could not sell the site because there would be no developer interest in the building because they couldn't get an approval for redevelopment or demolishment," he said.

"The owners have made it clear what they want to do with it, yet the government did not come in and make the deal. If they had ... declared it a proposed monument, none of this would have happened."

Mr Zimmerman said there were rumours that there were 5,000 historical sites on a secret government list which had not been released.

"The government just refuses to deal with this issue," he said.

Mansion owner in bid to avoid heritage status
Hong Kong Standard
Friday, September 21, 2007

http://thestandard.com.hk/newsimage/20070921/roof.jpg

The new owner of a Chinese-style mansion that the government is belatedly trying to save is considering launching a judicial review against the proposal by the Antiquities Advisory Board to declare it a historical monument.

Wong Chi-keung, managing director of Yue Tai Property, which signed the land sale agreement on behalf of the mainland owner, said yesterday a decision would be made shortly.

The mansion was being renovated when the order to stop work was given last weekend.

Development Bureau chief Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor admitted yesterday government officials had ignored the opportunity to save the building five months ago, but hoped the new owner would discuss the matter with her rather than go through the courts.

"I have been handling the matter personally. I hope the owner can appreciate my sincerity," Lam said.

She said in April architect Philip Liao Yi-kang had written to the chief executive on behalf of the former owner, Stephen Yow Mok-shing, requesting a meeting to discuss the future of 70-year-old King Yin Lei.

The letter was passed to the Home Affairs Bureau and then to the Antiquities and Monument Office but was unanswered. "I agree those who handled it were not sensitive enough to realize that the public cares about these old buildings," Lam said.

She said the bureau had so far been unable to contact the new owner, Ice Wisdom Limited. She denied the government was passing the buck by asking the new owner to initiate a meeting.

Antiquities Advisory Board member Bernard Lim Wan-fung said the declaration made last Friday was in accordance to the law and the Antiquities Authority had been consulted.

Officials from the Antiquities and Monument Office finally entered the site yesterday. Initial inspection revealed that most of its color-glazed roof tiles were gone while railings, some with Chinese-styled decorations and embossments, had been hacked off. One of the red brick walls surrounding the mansion had also been destroyed.

Lam met with Yow on Tuesday and found the site had been handed over to the new owner on September 6, though the land sale agreement was to become effective yesterday.

The chairman of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects' Board of Local Affairs, Wong Kam-sing, said the focus will be on Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen when he delivers his policy address next month to see how he will respond to demands to save Hong Kong's heritage.

Wong said he was not surprised the former owner's letter had become entangled in government red tape. "They have also not replied to the institute's letters on preserving Wan Chai market and Queen's Pier," he said.

To prevent another tragedy, Wong said the conservation policy should be overhauled and the compensation mechanism for heritage buildings on private land be clearly spelled out. He said the new owner of King Ying Lei could be offered alternatives such as a plot ratio transfer or allowed to build around the mansion as was the case with the Morrison Building in Tuen Mun.

http://thestandard.com.hk/newsimage/20070921/inspect.jpg

Wan Chai market may get reprieve as talks continue
Hong Kong Standard
Saturday, September 22, 2007

The 70-year-old Wan Chai market building may get a reprieve.

Newly appointed Urban Renewal Authority chairman Barry Cheung Chun-yuen said on Friday that talks with developers on the possible preservation of the historical building were still continuing.

Cheung said the authority understood the public's concern and was seeking a solution.

He said legally Chinese Estates Holdings had every right to build on the site, but this did not mean nothing more could be done.

"This project has already been delayed and both the developer and the authority want to see the issue resolved as soon as possible," he said.

The company, controlled by billionaire Joseph Lau Luen-hung, had signed an agreement with the authority in 1996 to build three luxury residential blocks.

Two towers have already been completed and the plan was for the market to be demolished to make way for the third.

On August 4, Chinese Estates executive director Lau Wai-ming revealed the company was in talks with the authority on the future of the market, raising optimism for its survival.

Cheung, who is in the pertrochemical business and has worked with the authority's predecessor, the Lands Development Authority, confirmed the talks were going well.

Constructed in 1937, the Bauhaus- styled market was rated a Grade III historical building by the Antiquities Advisory Board in 1990.

Since there is no need to compensate landowners, as is the case with other redevelopment projects, Cheung said finding a solution would be easier.

When asked if an exchange of land was feasible, Cheung was noncommittal. However, sources in the authority said this alternative is unlikely and that a financial settlement was the smoother option.

With several other issues at hand, the Wan Chai market issue is unlikely to be resolved before the end of the current fiscal year next March 31.

However, Cheung was confident that before that date, two other controversial projects - Nga Tsin Wai Village and Mong Kok "Sneakers Street" - would be announced and kicked into motion.

He said revamping Sneakers Street into a shopping mall for sports goods would bring in even more business.

After seeing the horrid living conditions in rundown districts in 1997, Cheung said he understood the public's sentiment for heritage conservation and that his job is to help people live better.

He said most residents he met in the old districts wanted to get compensation and to move out.

"I can't believe that in today's Hong Kong, tens of thousands of people are still living in such conditions. It is unacceptable," he said.

The authority, established six years ago, hopes to finish 225 projects in 20 years. To date, 193 projects remain on that list. "Not all the projects will make money. Some like Sneakers Street will lose money. But we still have to do it to renew our community," he said.

In the wake of rising heritage concerns, Cheung said any urban renewal policy revamp would be the government's call.

Development Bureau chief Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had earlier mentioned the possibility of a "compensation first" redevelopment policy.

Cheung said the authority will follow government policy.

Yu Lok Lane tower gets nod amid opposition
Hong Kong Standard
Saturday, September 22, 2007

A 30-story residential tower is to go up on Yu Lok Lane, Sai Ying Pun, despite strong opposition from residents fighting to preserve the area's unique characteristics.

The Town Planning Board gave the green light, with support from the Planning Department, at a meeting on Friday although some members expressed concern over the loss of the lane's uniqueness and the proposed height of 145 meters for the tower, which will provide 270 flats on completion. Half of the site of about 1,180 square meters is reserved for an open public space.

The Urban Renewal Authority's redevelopment plan for Yu Lok Lane- Centre Street, covering an area of more than 1,800 sqm, calls for the promotion of efficient land use and the provision of open space of not less than 1,000 sqm for the public. Out of the 16 prewar houses on Yu Lok Lane, two will be maintained as heritage buildings.

When the project was last discussed at a board meeting in July, a height limit of 145 meters, a plot ratio of eight, and half the site to be used as public open space were suggested and added to the final plan.

Board member Ng Cho-nam noted the importance of preserving the lane, saying the stairs and white brick walls at its entrance should be maintained as well. "Preserving that is very important for keeping the lane's character, which is very unique."

Ng and fellow member David Dudgeon questioned the validity of having such a tall building there.

District planning officer Christine Tse Kin-ching argued that it is in line with the surroundings and will be built at a distance from other properties.

"But we do have public opposition which is not addressed in the plan. It's not acceptable to someone having to live next to it," Dudgeon retorted.

Another board member, Daniel To Boon-man, said the plan did not spell out how the open space and the historic buildings are to be maintained, and expressed concern that future flat owners might have to shoulder the costs.

Board chairman Raymond Young Lap-moon said the URA should be responsible for maintenance of the existing houses, and suggested that more of them be preserved.

Social worker Tam Chi-wing said most of the people who live near the site are against the presence of another high-rise tower, fearing it will block their views.

Tam suggested that the site be turned into a heritage park instead.

Heritage, yes, but at what cost?
Hong Kong Standard
Sept. 21, 2007

Conservationists and officials are engaged in a prolonged tug-of-war that threatens to eat up the strength of both.

At the center of the latest row is King Yin Lei in the Mid-Levels, where workers were spotted defacing the old Chinese mansion. The incident was brought to light by a group of conservationists who have been watching closely the fate of hundreds of old structures in Hong Kong.

Officials have been working hard to reverse their passive stance on heritage conservation, and they wasted no time in placing the mansion on the proposed monument list to save the 71-year-old building from further damage for at least 12 months.

It it hoped the intervention will give the authorities leeway to reach a deal with the landlord acceptable to all. Nobody is able to say yet whether the example of Kam Tong Hall in Sheung Wan will be repeated in King Yin Lei. In the case of Kam Tong Hall, the government bought the historic building from a private owner and turned it into a museum.

On the surface, that sounds fine. Not so, on second thoughts.

There's no doubt the King Yin Lei mansion is a hot potato for the government. And it is not an isolated case. Officially, there are 496 graded heritage buildings, of which 83 structures have been declared monuments and accorded proper protection.

Unofficially, according to conservationists, there could be 10 times that number, or more. It would be impractical for the authorities to copy the Kam Tong Hall approach with all of them.

Lawmakers who have control over public funding will not support it. And that's not the complete picture. Take a tour of Hong Kong and it won't be difficult to find historic buildings left unused after being handed over to the government. Isn't the Lui San Chung building in Tai Kok Tsui still vacant?

It is obvious the city is in need of a more integrated policy that can handle heritage conservation and uphold private property ownership at the same time.

There's a sense of increasing urgency. As evident in the case of the old Star Ferry Pier and the Queen's Pier, sentiment in favor of preserving cultural heritage is growing. While talk of collective memory was virtually non- existent in the past, it's now one of the most discussed topics in town.

Yet it should be understood that Hong Kong is a living city that needs development.

While it would be wrong to sacrifice heritage in the pursuit of development, it would be wrong too to preserve heritage at the expense of development.

Early this year, the government launched a public consultation on cultural heritage conservation. It is expected to come up with further proposals later this year.

It's to be hoped that, by the time details of the proposals surface, the government will be able to tell the public how it is going to achieve a balance between heritage and development.

It is important that consideration be given to how to inject new life into protected heritage sites. Just saving them from the wrecker's ball is not sufficient.

Let's be practical. Hawkish language alone won't save heritage.

Use Haw Par model to solve King Yin Lei problem, urges expert
Hong Kong Standard
Monday, September 24, 2007

The government is being urged to follow the successful 2001 agreement over the preservation of Haw Par Mansion and its private garden in dealing with King Yin Lei mansion.

Greg Wong Chak-yan of the Antiquities and Monuments Board said the government must not bow to political pressure to buy the mansion on Stubbs Road as it might be a waste of time.

Describing the 2001 negotiations, where the government successfully reached a deal with the owner and developer of the Tiger Balm Garden complex to preserve the mansion and its garden, as a "win-win" solution, Wong said at a public forum yesterday the government should use that as an example to solve the King Yin Lei problem.

A free market think-tank, meanwhile, advised against using public money to buy King Yin Lei.

"To declare a place a monument suddenly is neglecting the existing property rights system," said Raymond Ho Man-kit of the Lion Rock Institute. He said the government should respect private property rights and the system should not be infringed on even though conservation of a monument is important.

Ho said the government should not use administrative means to infringe on property rights. "It will only discourage owners from dealing with the government." The government, he said, should not buy the mansion as this would not be sustainable, adding that the administration cannot buy every monument in the future.

Surveyors have estimated the mansion, which is now a "proposed monument," is worth about HK$400 million. Wong said: "If the government needs to spend about HK$400 million for the King Yin Lei mansion, it must have the Legislative Council's approval." Not all legislators will approve, Wong said.

Conservancy Association chairwoman Betty Ho Siu-fong said the owner and the government could become partners to protect the mansion.

She said the association had urged the government over the past decade to set up a "land swap" system to preserve existing monuments but received no enthusiastic response.

http://special.hkjc.com/promo/en/2007_central_police/images/topbar_old.jpg
Revitalise Central Police Station

The Hong Kong Jockey Club announces HK$1.8 billion "gift for Hong Kong" that will conserve Central Police Station site as new cultural icon


The Hong Kong Jockey Club today (11 October) announced more details of its innovative revitalisation proposal to conserve and refurbish the historic Central Police Station compound, as outlined by Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive Donald Tsang in his Policy Address yesterday.

Through The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the Club will fund the HK$1.8 billion capital cost of renovating the disused 19th-century compound and transforming it into a heritage, arts, cultural, and tourism hub that will become a new iconic destination for Hong Kong.

Club Chairman John C C Chan said the Club was proud to present this "as a gift to the people of Hong Kong in celebration of the HKSAR's 10th Anniversary".

In order to create a landmark attraction for local residents and overseas visitors alike, the conservation plan will consist of a balanced mix of cultural, heritage and commercial elements. The buildings will be restored for adaptive re-use, commercially as well as for cultural and heritage purposes to display and interpret the site's unique history. A connection between Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo will be created to enhance pedestrian circulation, with open public spaces and landscaping forming an important part of the restoration work.

A new iconic structure will be erected on the upper platform area to create a cultural complex that will include a 500-seat auditorium, a 500-seat theatre, two art cinemas, a gallery, a multipurpose exhibition space and supporting facilities.

Conversion work is expected to begin in January 2009 and it is envisaged that the entire site will be opened to the public in mid 2012.

Welcoming the proposal to revitalise the Central Police Station compound for adaptive re-use, the Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, expressed gratitude to The Hong Kong Jockey Club for donating $1.8 billion for the renovation and development cost.

“The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s proposal fully realises the spirit of the adaptive re-use scheme for historic buildings, so as to transform these buildings into local cultural icons. The proposal is also in line with the vision of the Chief Executive on heritage conservation,” Mrs Lam said.

The Government will make the site available to the Club under a lease and an agreement setting out specific terms and conditions. All restoration, conservation and development work of the historic buildings will be in line with guidelines laid down by the Antiquities & Monuments Office.

"As stated in the Vienna Memorandum on World Heritage and Contemporary Architecture, the central challenge of contemporary architecture in the historic urban landscape is to respond to development dynamics on the one hand, so as to facilitate socio-economic changes and growth, while simultaneously respecting the inherited townscape and its landscape setting on the other," Mr Chan said.

"Our planned mixture of commercial and cultural usage will ensure the vibrancy of the entire area, transforming a heritage site into a family destination for locals and visitors," Mr Chan added. "We believe such a redevelopment will successfully integrate the community's valuable heritage with contemporary architecture, creating a new cultural landmark for Hong Kong."

The Club has commissioned internationally renowned architects from Switzerland, Herzog & de Meuron, as design architects for the project.




Executive Director, Charities, William Y Yiu, said the Club would work closely with the design architects, relevant consultants and Government departments to conduct a detailed assessment, in order to ensure that the project complied with all statutory planning, traffic and environmental requirements.

"Our plan is to retain the site's historic value and extend its physical life, at the same time taking into account its cultural significance and protecting its heritage value through preservation, restoration, rehabilitation and integration. We intend to share detailed plans with the public in December through an exhibition at the Hong Kong Racing Museum, together with a series of symposiums, to gather more views from the community before the work starts," he said.

The Club has already conducted a survey in mid-2006 to gauge the public's views on how they would like to see the Central Police Station conserved and developed. It found that the majority of respondents expected the compound could offer them enough variety and potential to spend an entire day with families. The survey also found that over 90% of respondents would like to see retail and food and beverage outlets on the site, 90% were receptive to turning the compound into a cultural complex and 79% felt that the complex should become an icon of Hong Kong.

Besides bearing the HK$1.8 billion capital cost for renovation and development of the compound, the Club will fund recurrent deficits for its initial years of operation until it becomes financially self-sustaining. The Club intends to reinvest surplus cash flow from the project into other heritage conservation projects in Hong Kong.

The Club has proposed to Government that the project be managed by a limited company operating under the direction of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and supported by a Heritage Advisory Committee.

http://special.hkjc.com/promo/ch/2007_central_police/images/newpic01_large.jpg

http://special.hkjc.com/promo/en/2007_central_police/images/newpic02_large.jpg

http://special.hkjc.com/promo/en/2007_central_police/images/newpic03_large.jpg

http://special.hkjc.com/promo/en/2007_central_police/images/newpic04_large.jpg

Meanwhile, the owner of King Yin Lei has assured us that the taxpayers will not foot the bill for the building - the owner himself will pay to have it restored.

Jake van der Kamp also makes interesting points about Donald "Pour some concrete" Tsang in the Money section of the SCMP.

Unfortunately, I don't have online access to SCMP online so can't give you the whole articles, but that's the gist of it.

^^ This one need a new thread of itself, hope it get build (you know lately all the Hong Kong project got....)

more pics
http://orientaldaily.on.cc/photo/20071012/new/1012nlig01b2.jpg
http://orientaldaily.on.cc/photo/20071012/new/1012nlig01b3.jpg

Central Police Station looks quite bold and odd. So out of the ordinary. Good that HKers are starting to accept these kinds of things.

Anyone know how this will impact the skyline? (Hint: Aboveday...)

Fantastic proposal either way!

From news.gov.hk:
Gov't to revitalise more historic buildings (http://news.gov.hk/en/category/infrastructureandlogistics/071020/html/071020en06002.htm)

Gov't Press Release:
LCQ5: King Yin Lei (http://info.gov.hk/gia/general/200710/24/P200710240164.htm)

Heritage policy set in Tsang address: bureau
26 October 2007
South China Morning Post

Conservationists and activists who have been eagerly awaiting the heritage policy are surprised to find it has already been released: in the chief executive's policy address.

The measures listed by Donald Tsang Yam-kuen on October 10 constituted the policy, and no more consultation was planned beyond a public forum that was attended by about 50 people on Saturday, the Development Bureau said.

Lawmakers, professionals and Antiquities Advisory Board members who had been looking forward to a policy framework being mapped out after public views were sought early this year said Mr Tsang's initiatives, while welcome, were not a policy.

The measures include revitalising historic buildings, providing financial assistance to maintain private historical buildings and conducting heritage impact assessment on graded buildings in government projects.

"An action plan cannot substitute a long-term directive policy," lawmaker Patrick Lau Sau-shing said. "From the policy document, we do not know if we are going to meet the international standards for heritage conservation."

Laurence Li Lu-jen, an Antiquities Advisory Board member, said there were still questions. "Will our urban planning system work with the new initiatives?"

Lee Ho-yin, architectural conservation programme director of the University of Hong Kong, said Mr Tsang had not said whether the board would be reformed.

The bureau elaborated on the measures in a 14-page statement given to a Legco meeting last week, which also explained why some public suggestions had not been taken. It said a heritage trust would not be established until the present proposals had been in place for about five years, but the government would start studying overseas experience.

The bureau also said the idea of transferring development rights to protect privately owned heritage sites would be considered only on a case-by-case basis, as setting up a formal mechanism would involve substantial legislative amendments and difficult issues of determining the value of sites.

A bureau spokeswoman said the government had already gauged public views on the policy at Saturday's forum and no public consultation will be held in the coming months except individual meetings with professional groups.

Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said yesterday the new policy was action-based to address the public demand for measures to protect heritage.

Tsang vows to press ahead with heritage protection
15 October 2007
Hong Kong Standard

Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has pledged to press ahead with a new model of heritage preservation that will not only help Hong Kong protect its historical buildings but also make the buildings ``living history'' that can add to the quality of life.

Elaborating on his ideas on heritage conservation in Radio Television Hong Kong's Letter to Hong Kong program yesterday, Tsang said it would be necessary to involve parties other than the government when it comes to heritage conservation. ``Protecting heritage should not only involve the government _ we want NGOs [nongovernment organizations], charitable organizations, individuals and the business community all to play a part,'' he said.

An example of the new approach, he said, is the Central Police Station compound.

Describing the Central Police Station project as a major revitalization work, Tsang said the Hong Kong Jockey Club's participation will turn the heritage cluster into a ``vibrant, iconic, cultural landmark.''

He added: ``The Hong Kong Jockey Club, in its usual public spirit and innovation, has come up with such a proposal with a pledged donation of HK$1.8 billion. We have accepted this in principle and will engage the public in its design over the next six months.

``I'm sure historic buildings like Mei Ho House, which is in a Hong Kong public housing estate, and Lui Seng Chun, will likely be given a new lease of life.''

According to the Jockey Club's plan unveiled last week, the Central Police Station compound will become a heritage, arts, cultural and tourism hub. Two-thirds of the restored buildings within the compound will be reused for commercial purposes while the rest will be used for museum exhibition and performance. A centerpiece of the proposal is a scaffold-like tower with a 160-meter viewing deck above the existing upper courtyard, which will also house a 500-seat theater, auditorium, two art cinemas, gallery and exhibition space.

Tsang said the government has also initially identified seven buildings for revitalization and adaptive reuse and will soon call for expression of interests from concerned bodies to participate in their restoration. ``These buildings could be transformed for use as exhibition galleries, hostels, academic institutions or community facilities.''

HK$3m cap mooted for heritage site operations
9 November 2007
South China Morning Post

The government is considering a HK$3 million cap on grants to operate projects under the historic buildings revitalisation scheme. The HK$3 million would be to cover operating costs for the first two years of running a building.

The winning proposals submitted by non-governmental organisations should also strike a good balance between delivering social benefits and attaining financial sustainability, said Janet Wong Wing-chen, deputy secretary for development (works).

Details of the newly announced scheme to revitalise seven selected government-owned historic buildings were revealed in a briefing session with NGOs yesterday. About 100 representatives from NGOs and professional bodies attended.

Ms Wong said the government's initial plan was to set a cap on how much operating costs would be subsidised in the first two years. But, she said, there would be no ceiling on the one-off grant given for a building's renovation.

"The HK$3 million is the cap that we are thinking about. But since all of these sites vary in size, if we allow such a cap to be used for the 6,700-square-metre Mei Ho House [in Sham Shui Po], the cap for those of a smaller size will be accordingly less," she said.

Profit generated from the revitalisation scheme by NGOs should be invested back into the projects, she said.

But the NGOs expressed concerns over the subsidy cap, saying it might not be sufficient to support non-profit activities such as arts and culture education or youth development.

"The amount is quite low," said Iman Fok Tin-man of the Society for Community Organisation, which is looking to turn Lai Chi Kok Hospital and Mei Ho House in Sham Shui Po into youth hostels.

"Many of these buildings are large in size and I am worried that we can't afford to participate, even if we are very keen to."

Ms Wong said the government would reconsider the amount after listening to the views of NGOs.

The Antiquities and Monuments Office is also compiling two sets of documents - one which assesses the heritage value of these buildings and one with conservation guidelines.

The government plans to receive applications from February next year. The assessment panel is to examine the applications based on four criteria starting from May and have some of these projects approved by the end of next year.

Soco director Ho Hei-wah said they planned to turn the two sites into youth hostels for overseas students and, ultimately, to create jobs.

"But the government should consider extending the subsidy period from two to three to five years. Otherwise, the NGOs may be too busy getting enough money to finance themselves and overlook their role in promoting the history of the district and other missions" to help society, he said.

Frederick Fung Kin-kee, leader of Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, said the party was keen to revitalise Lui Seng Chun in Mong Kok, but he refused to disclose how the building would be used.

"We have already found a business partner and professionals to help us," he said.

Historic police station may be preserved
11 November 2007
South China Morning Post

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070926/IMG_1702.jpg

The historic Yau Ma Tei police station may be saved in its entirety as the government explores alternatives for the construction of the Central Kowloon Route, sources have said.

They also said the authorities were considering if the nearby Jade Market, which would be affected by the plan, could be relocated back to the Temple Street area after the road was completed.

Robert Chan Cheuk-ming, a senior government engineer responsible for the project, said they were only studying the possibilities of keeping the police station intact. He said a preferred route was expected to be unveiled in May.

The Central Kowloon Route is intended to link the West Kowloon Reclamation area and the future Kai Tak development. The original Highways Department plan was to have the road run through the staff quarters of the 85-year-old police station.

But the idea was rejected by the public works subcommittee of the Legislative Council's Finance Committee last December.

The government's intention to keep the police station was welcomed by legislators and district councillors yesterday. But they were divided over whether the police should remain in the Edwardian-style building, constructed in 1922.

Legislator Kwok Ka-ki said it was good that the whole police station would stay untouched.

He said the place should be used for other purposes if the police there decided to move to the Kowloon West Regional Headquarters.

"The historic building should house community facilities such as a library and clinic since the route construction may require the demolition of the existing library and clinic facilities," he said.

But Yau Tsim Mong district councillor Ng Po-sham said the police should stay there to keep law and order in the area.

About 70 residents, representatives of concern groups and professionals attended a public consultation forum organised by the Highways Department yesterday.

Two more such forums are due to be held next year.

Heritage calls Piecing together the past is becoming a passion
6 November 2007
South China Morning Post

Run your fingers along the red paintwork of the fireboat Alexander Grantham and you might picture it racing to put out the blaze that eventually sank the Seawise University in 1972. The vessel is now the gleaming centrepiece of a new museum of maritime firefighting history in Quarry Bay Park.

Decommissioned in 2002 after 49 years of service, the Alexander Grantham required plenty of science and elbow grease to prepare for public viewing, says Paul Harrison, a metal conservation specialist whose company oversaw the government conservation project in 2003.

"[Because] the boat often had to be painted, there are about 20 layers of paint on top of the ironworks," says Harrison. "We had to take it to a dockyard and get a big sandblaster to blow off all the paint."

Much time was also spent identifying paints that would ensure the long-term protection of the vessel, Harrison says.

The restorers finally settled for epoxy, which is durable but doesn't like sunlight, he says. "That's why polyurethane has to be painted on top of this paint, to protect it."

Harrison, who holds a master's degree in metals conservation, has worked on many historic artefacts in Hong Kong. He spent 18 months as an intern at the Hong Kong Museum of History after completing his first degree in archaeology and conservation in 1985. Later, during a seven-year stint as head of metal conservation with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department's conservation unit, his duties often involved maintenance of public objects such as the sculptures in Kowloon Park, the cannons at Admiralty station and the coaches at the Railway Museum in Tai Po.

In his first year with the department, he was sent to restore the Victoria Park statue of Queen Victoria after mainland artist Pun Singlui splashed red paint over the figure in late 1996 and broke its nose in the process.

Harrison's latest assignment is for the local Jewish community, surveying the condition of the 400 gravestones in the Jewish Cemetery in Happy Valley.

Harrison has always been drawn to museums. A chance visit to the University College London's Institute of Archaeology in his teens steered him towards conservation.

Few young Hongkongers, however, are given such insight into the world of conservation. Because there are no undergraduate degree programmes in Hong Kong, all 28 specialists in the LCSD's central conservation unit have a background in chemistry.

Conservation is a broad discipline: it requires dealing with disparate materials, from ceramics and paintings to textiles, photographs and historical documents.

Not only are conservators required to know the history and the science of archaeology, they must also understand the techniques of working in different materials and using equipment from X-ray machines to sandblasters.

Hong Kong conservators develop their skills after they have been recruited through a combination of on-the-job and overseas training. Chan Shing-wai, chief curator of the LCSD's conservation section and the government's longest-serving conservator, was one of the first Hong Kong staff sent abroad for professional training in the 1980s. A chemist by training, he became an assistant curator with the Museum of Art in 1985. Two years later he was sent to the Institute of Archaeology to study for a postgraduate diploma in archaeology conservation.

After 23 years in conservation, Chan says his interest in the science increases every day.

"The most exciting part about this field is that the problems that we tackle are never the same," says the 49-year-old. "Even though we have two fragments which may look similar, the way of conserving them can be very different."

LCSD conservators are called to major archaeological excavations such as the Sha Ha site in Sai Kung, which was discovered in 2002.

On the Sha Ha dig, the conservators collected fragments and related materials such as the surrounding soil, and sent them for sorting, cleaning and piecing together in a laboratory. It's nearly impossible to find all the broken pieces of an artefact, Chan says.

"A [piece of] pottery that is one to two feet tall could be broken into up to 200 pieces, and [may] take at least four months to piece together. The most important thing is that a conservator cannot give up [the job] halfway through, no matter how hard it is."

The pieces don't always fit, he says. "It's like getting a bag of crumbled biscuits which we have to try to piece together although they may belong to different brands," Chan says. "We have to learn to accept failures."

He relishes hands-on work such as restoring the Alexander Grantham, but concedes that such projects require the sharp eyesight and physical strength of younger colleagues.

"The prime time for conservators is when they are in their early 30s, when they have accumulated a sound knowledge of conservation and have the physical strength and sharp mind to carry out the work," Chan says.

That's why he and other veteran conservators want to pass on their knowledge to younger colleagues such as assistant curator Veronica Chan Wing-yan, who is responsible for ceramic artefacts.

Like her chief, the 30-year-old chemistry graduate had little knowledge of museums and conservation before she joined the unit. Six years later, Veronica Chan is hooked on restoration.

"When you go to an exhibition, the artefacts are usually displayed in showcases and visitors may only be able to see one side of the items - normally their most beautiful side," she says. "But every facade can be a wonder {hellip} and we can see those things that others can't see."

Time's running out
Shophouses in Hong Kong are fast disappearing, but a few gems have so far survived amid the march of development
9 November 2007
South China Morning Post

The ground floor is typically a shop or other small family-run business - often of a distinctively traditional Hong Kong nature - such as a pawn shop, Chinese medicine pharmacy, or a mahjong tiles outlet.

Two supporting pillars form a gateway into a semi-private space scented with the vaguely medicinal aromas of yesteryear, the ancestral memories of generations, and a microcosm of Hong Kong's past that has often been lovingly depicted on the screen or in print.

Hong Kong's shophouses - or tong lau - are an "endangered species". However, enough of them remain, especially in parts of Wan Chai and Sheung Wan, for the historical record of Hong Kong's most distinguished existing "vernacular architecture" to endure.

Vernacular architecture denotes buildings constructed using locally available resources to meet local needs, and also an architectural form that reflects the buildings' environmental, cultural and historical context.

Shophouse architecture took shape across Southeast Asia from the late 18th century, enjoyed ubiquity in urban Chinese communities for almost two centuries, before falling out of favour in the early post-war years.

Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the last traditional-style shophouses were built in the late 1950s, just as the novel - and in the 1960 film - The World Of Suzie Wong was inserting Hong Kong's shophouse cityscape into the world's consciousness.

These sturdy utilitarian buildings were built in a pre-globalised epoch, when the lychee never fell far from the tree and air travel was just a remote dream for most.

And so Hong Kong's shophouse architects and engineers were usually skilled neighbourhood friends moonlighting from their mercantile day-jobs, rather than today's well paid jet-setters, whose next project awaits in Shanghai, Dubai or some other locale for whose denizens the sky is never high enough.

The knowledge and methods of vernacular architecture were usually shaped by local traditions rather than worldwide trends conceived in London or New York.

Most of Hong Kong's shophouses enjoy a kind of air-conditioning that relies more on seasonal breezes than electricity and, because of these buildings' modest proportions, they also manage to take the nip out of the occasional cold snap coming from the South China Sea. Shophouses were constructed on a human scale, hence their invisible - yet intuitive - thermostats that make them environmentally friendly.

Shophouses have, over the years, provided the ground-floor premises of almost any business conceivable. Small restaurants, especially Chiu Chow outlets, local-style coffee shops, or cha chaan teng, clinics, barber shops, beauty salons, print shops, commercial garages, schools and clan associations can all be found in these distinctive and distinguished-looking buildings.

On the upper floors, the residential space depends, to a large extent, on the number of storeys.

Most Hong Kong shophouses are two- or three-storeys but, in more central areas and therefore well-heeled parts of town, higher configurations are common.

One of the most conspicuous characteristics of a shophouse is inevitably its narrow street frontage, a proportion that is often deceptive as shophouses generally extend backwards to a far greater depth than is apparent from the outside. In some cases, one can enter a shophouse and pass through to the rear street from an exit at the back.

Hong Kong's shophouses are tangible reminders of the city's heritage at a time when signs of Hong Kong's street-life of the past are increasingly under threat by those in pursuit of the development dollar.

Other regional cities have been more successful at preserving what is Southeast Asia's unique architectural style, as anyone who has recently visited Penang, Malacca, Singapore, or Macau can appreciate - although development plans for Macau's elegantly crumbling Inner Harbour area do not bode well for the hopes of the preservationists' lobby.

Hong Kong's finest examples of traditional shophouses are in Wan Chai, Sheung Wan, Sham Shui Po and other areas that maintain a measure of resistance to the wrecking ball of the property developer. One of the nicest shophouses is in Wan Chai. The exquisitely proportioned Cheong Woo pawn shop on Johnston Road is a reminder of how architecture of the past can co-exist with modern-day skyscrapers in one of the most frenetic parts of town.

Other notable shophouses are nearby at the Johnston Road-Luard Road intersection, a short tram ride away in Sheung Wan, and in the vicinity of Sham Shui Po's Pei Ho Street in Kowloon.

When the weather, lighting and mood is right, arriving in these locales is akin to enjoying a particularly visceral form of time travel. This is a point not lost on local filmmakers and other creative types in the business of distilling the atmospheric vibes of the Hong Kong of yesteryear.

Meanwhile, the city is losing its shophouses one by one - imperceptible losses that may only be fully appreciated when it is too late - and the distinctive vernacular form may one day be found in the Old Hong Kong section of some theme park.

U-turn on moving Wan Chai hawkers' bazaar praised
Hong Kong Standard
Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Wan Chai will continue to have its open-air hawkers' bazaar at Tai Yuen and Cross streets.
The government's decision to retain the bazaar met with overwhelming approval from lawmakers yesterday.

An earlier plan to relocate the hawkers' bazaar was aimed at easing traffic flow at Queen's Road East.

Using a simple U-turn area now may silence the long-drawn outcry against the earlier plan.

The Transport Department yesterday said the problem will be resolved by using the loading and unloading area at the new market for cars to make a U-turn.

To accommodate this arrangement, vehicles will be prohibited from entering Tai Yuen Street except for those with permits.

About 150 licensed hawkers at the bazaar will benefit from the government's change of heart.

Wan Chai, an old district with a rich treasure of heritage buildings, has lately become a conservation battleground.

Development bureau chief Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said in the coming years the bureau and the Urban Renewal Authority will join forces in tackling heritage conservation and redevelopment in Wan Chai together with the district council.

Lam said the Wan Chai District Council still has to give the proposed arrangement the nod before it can be implemented.

But lawmakers said the government should review the outdated hawker policy and provide better facilities.

Liberal lawmaker Vincent Fang Kang said that the hawkers there should be given long-term licenses instead of having to renew them every month. Legislator Albert Chan Wai-yip said that the current short-term licenses offer limited prospects for hawkers and urged that this change in the line of thinking be adopted in redevelopment plans for other districts.

Lam said that there are changes ahead for the policy on hawkers. Moves are also afoot to promote the sector.

"Since we have established the value of the hawkers' presence, it means they should be promoted as well," Lam said.

The Food and Health Bureau said it is reviewing such a policy and that consultation will be completed by the middle of next year.

On the preservation of the Grade III historic Wan Chai market building, Lam said the bureau is in talks with the URA and the developer that owns the site.

Winds of change threaten Sai Ying Pun's existence
16 November 2007
South China Morning Post

Western District, one of the oldest districts in Hong Kong, has a distinctly local character.

But it is not just old buildings that are facing challenges from the extension of the MTR West Island line. The district's traditional culture and heritage also find themselves under threat.

Sai Ying Pun is renowned for its trading market with a wealth of stalls and shops selling dried seafood, medicine and salted fish, together with many workshops processing these as well as shark's fins.

Roger Ho Yao-sheng, cultural heritage conservation activist and author, is concerned that the extension of the MTR line will spell the end for the area's special character.

"Sai Ying Pun is the only area in Hong Kong that has its own distinct odour. You can smell the scent of salted fish in the street," he said.

Mr Ho says it will be more difficult for the industries that have traditionally flourished to survive once the district is transformed by the new railway.

"These industries are usually practised by the older generation," Mr Ho said. "After they retire, the younger generation will probably not be willing to take over the business. They would rather sell their shops which will be transformed into chain stores."

Since the West Island line project was approved last month, property prices in the area have surged.

Mr Ho hopes the government and property developers will preserve the local character of the district when carrying out regeneration projects and do not create another "show flat" such as the Woo Cheong pawn shop premises on Johnston Road in Wan Chai without retaining any of its original uses.

The pre-war Chinese-style building in Wan Chai has undergone a massive renovation and will be home to a slew of dining venues.

Heritage partnership scheme a step forward
18 November 2007
South China Morning Post

A new scheme to encourage charities and other non-profit groups to help take care of historic buildings is a sign the government is taking a more proactive and innovative approach to heritage preservation. Too often, officials have failed to act until old buildings actually come under threat. This was the case with the King Yin Lei Mansion and Kam Tong Hall - now resurrected as Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum in Mid-Levels - when workers had already moved in with plans to pull them down. The new pilot scheme, announced by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen in his policy speech, goes some way towards changing that passive mindset.

It has earmarked seven heritage buildings owned by the government. Services groups are invited to take charge of these buildings - and maintain and open them to the public - in return for paying practically no rent. Initial seed money of up to HK$3 million and expert advice on heritage preservation will be provided. However, preserving these buildings also requires technical skills. The Development Bureau, which runs the scheme, must make sure the successful applicants are up to the job. Teething problems are likely to arise, especially with elaborate structures such as the old North Kowloon magistrate court.

Commendable as the scheme is, the government has neglected other historic buildings it owns, which have already been rented free to NGOs. These buildings include the medical sciences museum in Mid-Levels, the former Aberdeen police station and a former hospital in Sai Yin Pun. The Warehouse Teenage Club, which has operated out of the police station for more than a decade, has to pay for maintenance and repairs out of its own pocket. This amounts to 15 per cent of its annual operating budget of HK$2.5 million.

Currently, these groups are not qualified for the new scheme. However, as it is a pilot scheme, the bureau should seriously consider expanding it to include other non-profit groups that can show they are capable of successfully maintaining such buildings. Gradually expanding this scheme will encourage more groups and people to take part in heritage preservation and education.

Architect beat restraints to erect a landmark
28 November 2007
South China Morning Post

Stringent building regulations were the motivator for the innovation and imagination that went into the refurbishment of the decrepit French Mission building, Bethanie, in Pok Fu Lam, said architect Philip Liao Yi-kang, who transformed the building into a new city landmark.

Struggling to compromise public safety requirements with retention of the historic features of the 130-year-old grade-two historic building - Mr Liao said he wished he could have retained all the building's little embellishments.

But in reality, new balustrades had to be mocked up to replace some of the originals, which also incorporated glass.

"Aesthetics is nice," Mr Liao said. "But safety should always come first." He said some of the original balustrades did not meet building standards, which require railings 1.1 metres high and openings in balustrades to be small enough to stop children falling through.

Air conditioners and smoke detectors were rendered invisible, the latter hidden under a moulded floral motif on the ceiling, the former incorporated into small holes along the hallway, part of the original airflow system. "It is intolerable to see air-conditioners hanging on the building façade," he said.

One thing that cannot be invisible, however, is the "exit" signs, which must be highlighted in green and white.

"At some point, there is room for discretion, but where do we draw the line?" he said.

Mr Liao said the balance between accommodating historical value and achieving public safety in preserving historic building could be struck by forming a committee that was widely representative and endorsed by experts, officials and public members.

"The committee can tell us what is acceptable and what is not," he said.

Bethanie, built in 1875, was refurbished and reopened last year as the School of Film and Television for the Academy for Performing Arts. It has also become a popular venue for weddings.

But Mr Liao said: "Retaining the historic flavour comes at a cost." Government funding - HK$74.2 million - did not cover the total restoration costs, which was more than HK$80 million. The excess was raised by the academy.

URA does U-turn on conservation
Hong Kong Standard
Monday, December 10, 2007

The Urban Renewal Authority is wooing Hong Kong's oldest family businesses to return to Central and become attractions in the colossal redevelopment of the district's wet market.

Century-old shops pushed out of Central due to redevelopment are being invited back by the URA.

The aim is to create an old shops street, reviving the traditional heritage of the area alongside the URA's redevelopment of Graham and Peel streets.

An exhibition showcasing some of the businesses was held yesterday at Western Market as part of a consultation process between old businesses and the URA's conservation panel.

"This is about how we can synergize the old shops with the current to provide a better setting to bring back old memories that have been lost," panel chairman Kam Nai-wai said.

"We want to preserve and revitalize the wet market and these businesses are related to the market and have to do with livelihood."

Kam said the old shops are difficult to find in Hong Kong nowadays and that the younger generation is missing out on the city's vibrant heritage.

The URA has targeted 40 shops as part of the consultation and will be holding a similar exhibition every Sunday for the next month.

Kam said the shops face closure if they were not revived, pointing to Wong Cheung Wah herbal medicine shop, which exports most of its products from a factory in the New Territories to Southeast Asia.

"If we do not preserve these shops by giving them special arrangements such as cheaper rents, they will be lost forever," Kam said.

The eight shops on show sold pastries, Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce, medicated oil and herbal anti- flu tea.

Yuen Yee-lum, owner of herbal tea shop Yuen Kut Lam, welcomed the idea, saying that the move would boost his business because it would be in a busy location and attract locals. The store has been in Hong Kong since 1906.

He said the younger generation do not know about his special Chinese tea.

In RTHK's Letter to Hong Kong, lawmaker Choy So-yuk echoed the need to preserve Hong Kong's heritage.

"Hong Kong is changing very rapidly, physically and culturally. These changes are coming so fast that young people are beginning to feel rootless," Choy said.

The lawmaker urged the government to preserve the typical Hong Kong-style cafeteria or char chaan teng and called for new geological parks for educational and tourism purposes.

Compromise sought on landmark
Hong Kong Standard
Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor appealed yesterday for compromise on the proposed bamboo-scaffolding-designed landmark for the Central Police Station compound.

Lam said the compound should be conserved in its entirety.

She made the call after the opening ceremony of the Hong Kong Jockey Club's exhibition of the HK$1.8 billion proposed model at the Happy Valley Racecourse.

The public consultation on the project, in its second month, ends in April.

"In conservation of monuments we always need to compromise ... if we want to revitalize the monument, we must build a new building with its own uniqueness," Lam said.


The proposed iconic 160-meter bamboo-scaffolding-inspired building beams are much taller than the maximum height set at 77 meters.

"One should remember that the 77-meter limit is set only for privately- cooperated building projects, which involves building or dismantling buildings," the development chief said.

"The model also clarifies an important point: the building will not create a wall effect, as it's penetrable."

Lam added that the Jockey Club's non-profit-making proposal meets Hong Kong's tradition of building against the hills. She expressed hope the project could be developed as soon as possible.

Vincent Ng Wing-shun, former vice president of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, said the upper portions above the 130-meter viewing deck are too tall.

Town Planning Board member Ng Cho-nam agreed the proposal would obstruct the views of the occupants of nearby commercial buildings.

"The Central Police Station is a landmark in itself. When you look at development and conservation, you need to oversee the entire district," Ng said. "Given the density of that area is already very high, we don't need another high-rise which will make it look like bamboo shoots shooting off the ground."

The exhibition on the second floor of the Happy Valley Stand is open to the public until May 4. The public can express views on the proposal either through its official website (www. centralpolicestation.org.hk) or by filling out a questionnaire available at the exhibition hall.

The project was designed by world- renowned architects Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron and Ascan Mergenthaler, whose other works include the Beijing National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games, and London's Tate Modern Museum.

Under the existing proposal, a tower with a 160-meter viewing deck at the existing upper courtyard will be built, housing a 500-seat theater, auditorium, two art cinemas, gallery, exhibition space and restaurants.

NGOs may get HK$2m more for historic sites
19 December 2007
South China Morning Post

The government may raise the cap on a one-off grant to revitalise historic buildings from HK$3 million to HK$5 million in response to public opinion.

The money will be granted under a pilot scheme to help non-profit organisations maintain and operate the buildings. The government also suggested a specific tenancy of at least three to six years to minimise uncertainties encountered by organisations that reused the buildings.

The proposals were made after the government consulted NGOs on the scheme last month. The idea of collaborating with NGOs was initiated in the October policy address as part of a conservation policy to revitalise government-owned historic buildings that will cost HK$100 million in its first five years.

Nine buildings will be available for application in February, including Dragon Garden in Tsing Lung Tau and the Blue House in Wan Chai.

The government had originally planned to grant the NGOs up to HK$3 million for the first two years.

But some organisations voiced concerns that HK$3 million might not be sufficient for social enterprises operating in larger buildings, the Development Bureau said in a paper submitted to the Legislative Council.

Some were worried that the tenancy would not be long enough to make the operation viable, it said.

The bureau then proposed raising the financial ceiling per building to HK$5 million to cater for large, structurally complex premises. To allay worries, the tenancy would generally last three to six years. The bureau said longer tenancies could be negotiated for good reason.

The enterprises would also get technical guidance on maintaining and repairing historic buildings, the paper said, particularly on architectural features of significance such as mosaic tiles on an internal wall.

NGOs welcomed the government response yesterday but called for more flexibility in approving the funding and tenancy. "It will be even better if the funding can be extended for operations in the first three years," Iman Fok Tin-man of the Society for Community Organisation said.

Blueprints to revitalise oldest estate
18 December 2007
South China Morning Post

A Chinese arts complex, a hotel where guests would live like public-housing tenants in the 1950s, and a garden showcasing old Hong Kong are among the winning entries in a competition to come up with new uses for a preserved block on the city's oldest public-housing estate.

The competition sought proposals for the transformation of Mei Ho House on the Shek Kip Mei Estate, a Grade I historic building dating from 1954.

Judges selected five winners from the 46 entries. Edward Ho Sing-tin, the chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board, who chaired the competition jury, said the judges assessed entries for their creativity, conservation of heritage characteristics and how they fitted the neighbourhood.

They chose two winners from the professional category and three from the open category.

One of the professional winners, Fung Chi-ho, envisages changing the building into a complex to showcase traditional Chinese arts and crafts. It features a landscaped yard and a performance venue for Cantonese opera, and makes extensive use of bamboo.

"Bamboo is the characteristic of the design, as I think it represents the Chinese style of building," Mr Fung said. "And bamboo is environmentally friendly, too. It can grow as much as 6 inches [15cm] a day and can be reused in many ways."

The jury said Mr Fung's design created pleasing architectural forms using materials with local character.

The other winner in the professional group proposes traditional shops, food stalls and a museum of public-housing development.

It would feature large open spaces, including a lotus pond and a maze.

Sam Cheung Kuo-yue, one of the four people behind the entry, "A Garden of Memories", said the emphasis on greenery was inspired by the Housing Authority's recent concern for environmental issues.

One of the winners in the open category is Enzo Chiu Kwun-yu, a student at Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

He wants to convert Mei Ho House into a "cultural hotel" where guests would live under conditions similar to those of public estate households in the 1950s - even down to cooking in the corridors.

The competition was sponsored by the Housing Authority, which is expected to incorporate elements of one or more of the winning entries in its blueprint for the block.

Wan Chai facelift to save historic market
Hong Kong Standard
Friday, December 21, 2007

A HK$300 million facelift aimed at revitalizing Wan Chai was unveiled yesterday, saving the 70-year-old Wan Chai market and redesigning the former Wedding Card Street into a "Wedding City."

In addition, nine prewar buildings including the famed "Blue House" will house social enterprises while current residents who wish to stay will be allowed to do so.

The Grade III Historic Wan Chai market building has been the center of a heated conservation battle.

It has been part of the redevelopment joint venture between the Urban Renewal Authority and the developer, Chinese Estates, dating back to 1996 and was scheduled to be demolished early next year to make way for a luxury residential complex.

In a joint announcement with the Development Bureau, the authority said the building would now be saved from the wrecker's ball. Instead, a 148-meter residential tower will sit atop the 12-meter market, its facade preserved along with its curved wall surfaces, cantilevering sun-shading fins and symmetrical elevation.

The front of the building will become a 929-square-meter shopping arcade and a parking lot and lift shafts will stand at the back where its eight supporting pillars stand.

The 70 hawkers stalls operating in the market will be allocated to a new market complex nearby, the authority confirmed.

Authority chairman Barry Cheung Chun-yuen called it an "innovation" in heritage conservation rarely seen in Hong Kong, though the merging of old and new buildings is not unusual in foreign countries.

The change was a balancing act between a rising call for the building's conservation and respect for the contractual spirit, the authority said.

The authority said it drew conservation examples from other places, such as the Hearst Tower in New York City and the Peninsula Hotel extension in Hong Kong.

Lee Tung Street, once the vibrant "Wedding Card Street," had became a conservation battleground since it was vacated for redevelopment a few years ago.

The block will now become a "Wedding City," a hub for wedding-related businesses, such as wedding gowns, flowers, cakes and photo studios.

Also, a wedding traditions and culture gallery will be housed in one of the three conserved prewar Canton verandah-style buildings.

Cheung said the 27 wedding card shops previously operating there will be given priority to return. They may also be given free rent for a period of time as an added incentive.

The proposed wedding hub is similar to the vibrant Bridal Gown Street which occupied a chunk of Shanghai Street and was demolished in the 1990s for the development of the Langham Place complex.

Residents of the 34 households in nine prewar buildings, including the 70-year-old Grade I historic building "Blue House," will be allowed to stay if they so choose.

Non-government groups can apply to re-use these buildings for social enterprises, with the provision that residents can live alongside these enterprises.

Development chief Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said although the arrangement could be complicated, residents will at least be given a choice, a vast contrast to previous practices.

The total cost of the facelift will amount to HK$300 million.

Lee Ho-yin, director of Hong Kong University's architectural conservation program, said the plan may set new standards of conservation in Hong Kong.

Activist Sin Wai-fong said the authority had failed to lay out concrete details for former owners of the Lee Tung Street shops.

i a not saying you shouldn't complain,but do you know how many historical buildings had been torn down in mainland china through out all these years???now the people in high places seem to have realised the true value of the old buildings which are lucky enough to have survived the ongoing wild urban reconstruction,the government has made some "preservation plans",as if merely painting the outside of a 100 years old house and leaving the inside the way it has been counts as "preservation".and when those real estate tycoons come up with some kinda crazy new idea,the corrupt officals always choose to stand along with them,and give them whatever approval they need.in my city,a whole street of paramount historical value had been replaced by a normal mall,could it have been more ridiculous?worse still,we have no right to complain here in the mainland of china,protest like that at the Queen's pier as you showed us in this thread,is inconcievable in the mainland,not to mention actually carry out one

Well, HK's historic preservation movement seemed to have arrived too late. We lost a lot of very good architecture over the years and there isn't much left in the core. In fact, a lot of these projects that are seeing all sorts of protests these days may have been torn down without question just 5 years ago.

As society develops and people look beyond just making money for a living, the time will come when people start questioning our cultural heritage and how to preserve and showcase it.

Charity sets out new plan for Blue House
6 January 2008
South China Morning Post

A charitable organisation hopes to engage residents who want to remain in Wan Chai's Stone Nullah Lane buildings - including the Blue House - in its attempt to revitalise the cluster of historic buildings.

St James' Settlement is devising a plan that will allow the residents to keep renting their homes at affordable prices, and at the same time balance the need for financial self-sustainability.

"It is, of course, much easier to revitalise a building when it is empty," a senior officer with the charity, Laurence Lam Kwok-wai, said.

"But the concept of people is important in the passing on a community's heritage."

The government, which plans to redevelop the area, earlier announced that the 80-year-old Blue House and the nearby Orange and Yellow Houses would be included in a revitalisation scheme spearheaded by the Development Bureau. The buildings are so far the only sites in the scheme where residents are allowed to stay.

Previously, the Housing Society and the Urban Renewal Authority had intended to transform the Blue House into a tourist attraction with a theme of tea and Chinese medicine - a scheme under which residents would not be permitted to remain.

Mr Lam said St James' Settlement would co-apply for the right to revitalise the buildings with the residents' association, which it hoped would give its input on the scheme.

He said the preliminary idea was to turn the buildings into a base for local artists to promote community art and cultural tourism in Wan Chai.

"We hope to link the Blue House with the characteristics of the Wan Chai community," he said.

"Preserving and revitalising historic buildings is not just for nostalgia's sake, but to use the place as a focal point to build up the community."

The group now runs a heritage museum in the Blue House, supported by the sustainable development fund.

Mr Lam said the Blue House example was a "healthy" precedent undertaken by the government, reflecting a shift of mindset that heritage protection was not just about keeping the "hardware".

About a dozen of the present 40 households in the buildings are expected to stay behind. Most of the residents are either old people or have lived there with their families for many years.

Under the government's revitalisation scheme, non-government organisations are invited to submit proposals on revitalising selected historic sites.

A Development Bureau spokesman said the Blue House cluster would not be included in the first batch of the seven historic buildings open to applications starting next month due to time constraints. But it would work hard to include the site as soon as possible.

very good news

Heritage policy fails to make the grade
3 January 2008
Hong Kong Standard

Disappointed lawmakers yesterday described the proposed heritage conservation policy as lacking in substance, "with no solid timetable or financial resources".

Under the Development Bureau's proposed policy, incentives such as land exchange and transfer of development rights are considered to be needed in facilitating conservation of privately owned heritage buildings.

Two proposed monuments under such consideration are the partially demolished King Yin Lei mansion on Stubbs Road and Jessville on 128 Pok Fu Lam Road.

The proposal also suggested the government expand repair and restoration assistance to include graded historic buildings, on top of declared monuments.

But the Legislative Council's home panel legislators were not impressed _ as far as they are concerned the proposed policy lacks milestones. Lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip said the proposal failed to mention any law changes to better protect heritage buildings from the threat of urban development, and also did not mention financial resources.

"There is no free lunch _ heritage conservation costs money. With a surplus of HK$50 billion, the government should set up a trust for that purpose," Chan said. "Without investment, talking about conservation is just lip service."

Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said heritage conservation has to strike a balance among the different groups, with respect to both private ownership and the government's financial concerns.

With 1,440 buildings having waited in line for years to be graded, legislator Patrick Lau Sau- shing, who represents the architecture, planning and surveying sector, complained the grading committee has been dragging its feet.

The bureau said it has set a target of finishing evaluation within this year, with experts examining about 100 buildings every month.

"King Yin Lei mansion was lucky [to be saved] because people found out early about the proposed demolition," legislator Albert Ho Chun- yan asked. "Other than declaring the qualified buildings as monuments, what tools do we have to protect heritage buildings effectively?"

Lam said the development of the 1,440 buildings still waiting for heritage listing cannot be stopped indefinitely as many of them are privately owned. She said the current system was adequate in alerting the bureau if any demolition work was about to start.

Some parts of the proposal did find favor with lawmakers, such as the setting up of a commissioner for heritage office. The bureau is also studying overseas examples and considering developing a heritage trust.

Legislators also backed the use of seven government-owned heritage buildings for social enterprises to use as was announced in last October's policy address. Proposals from non- government groups are expected next month.

The bureau will ask Legco for HK$100 million to cover five years of operation costs for the seven buildings.

Vanishing Asia: Saving Hong Kong --- The city's heritage wars
11 January 2008
The Wall Street Journal Asia

Hong Kong -- For more than a century, this city has continually razed and rebuilt itself, evolving from trading post to industrial hub to global financial center. These days, though, the impulse toward redevelopment faces increasing challenges from residents hoping to save the few tangible remains of the city's rich history.

Plans to redevelop a sprawling old police and prison complex in the heart of Hong Kong has touched off the latest historical preservation debate. The battle over the landmark pits some of the former British colony's most powerful interests against its residents, including one of Hong Kong's oldest families.

Commerce has long ruled in land-scarce Hong Kong and preservation has usually given way to a tide of urban development. Few of the British expatriates and Chinese immigrants who came to the city with the moniker "borrowed place, borrowed time" saw it as a permanent home. However, since the territory was returned to Chinese rule from Britain in 1997, its local identity has come to the forefront and heritage conservation has taken on the overtones of a populist struggle.

One of its most famous, and shrinking, landmarks -- Victoria Harbor -- has become a flashpoint for conservationists. Since the British took possession of its waters and the surrounding hilly terrain in the mid-1800s, the harbor has been filled in successive stages. Today it is about half its original size.

The most recent reclamation plan, which would have added 45 hectares of prime waterfront real estate, was too much for some residents, who resorted to protests, legal challenges and grassroots campaigns to save the harbor's core from further encroachment. It also spurred demonstrations over two 1950s ferry terminals -- the storied Star Ferry pier and nearby Queen's Pier. Both were demolished to make room for development related to the reclamation plan, which has since been scaled back.

"These recent heritage battles represent a desperate search for a cultural anchor," says Lee Ho Yin, director of the architectural conservation program at the University of Hong Kong. "It's part of Hong Kong people seeking their own identity and roots."

The Central Police Station and Victoria Prison, built between the 1860s and the 1930s, were part of the British colony's attempts at imposing law and order on a population that included pirates and triads, as some criminal secret societies are known. The walled compound was a one-stop shop for the colonial penal authority, housing a police station, a prison, barracks for single officers, a courthouse and, until 1894, an execution ground.

Since the police department moved to new headquarters in 2004, these buildings and spacious courtyards, covering about five acres in a prime location near the city's central business district, have mostly lain empty, closed to the public except during art exhibits or tours arranged a few times a year. The maze of former prison buildings is still ringed by coils of barbed wire.

The Hong Kong government planned to put the site up for public auction. But in 2004, five philanthropic families, led by the wealthy Hotung family, submitted a plan to conserve and redevelop the existing buildings into a visual-arts academy, to be run in collaboration with the University of Hong Kong. They offered $64 million to refurbish and maintain the site on the condition that the government accept a symbolic one Hong Kong dollar for a 50-year lease.

The government passed on the offer, sparking an outcry from conservation groups, architects, and residents. For years the land remained in limbo, until October, when the Hong Kong Jockey Club, a nonprofit organization that holds a monopoly on Hong Kong's legal betting market, stepped in with a $230 million proposal that would be funded by the club's charitable trust.

It proposed preserving most of the existing buildings but also added a new element -- a jagged 152-meter glass tower designed by Herzog & de Meuron, the Swiss Pritzker Prize-winning architects responsible for the "bird's nest" Olympic stadium in Beijing and London's Tate Modern Museum. The Jockey Club would put up costs of capital improvement and manage the operation, while the land and buildings would stay under government ownership. The government accepted the plan in principle, once again stoking opposition.

"In Hong Kong we already have a lot of that kind of building. It's a bit ugly. I think they should maintain the site as it is and just renovate the existing buildings to make them look better," says Mary Angela Tam, an owner of Great Wall Leather Goods Co., a small luggage store behind the police station compound.

"I don't think it is appropriate for the neighborhood," contends Thomas Schmidt, managing director of the Hong Kong firm Sepia Design Consultants, who won a 2005 competition sponsored by architecture and conservancy groups seeking ideas for the redevelopment of the complex.

Aside from practical concerns about increased traffic congestion and blocked views, any redevelopment will have to contend with the site's "collective memory" -- a loosely defined term that has become the battle cry of the recent preservation struggles, invoked over projects from the doomed piers on the waterfront, to the partial demolition of a 1937 Chinese mansion, to plans to tear down old shops and street markets.

The Jockey Club says the tower -- with a design that architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron describe as inspired by the bamboo scaffolding used in construction sites around Hong Kong -- would house museums, galleries, restaurants and theaters on the lower levels. The upper portions would feature "sky gardens" and an observation deck.

"We want more arts and cultural facilities that you can't put into the existing buildings, so in order to do that you need a new building," says William Yiu, executive director for charities at the Jockey Club. He says that to subsidize the operation, around two-thirds of the older buildings would be rented out for shops and restaurants. Only a small portion of the tower would be leased commercially, mainly to restaurants, and it wouldn't become a office building, Mr. Yiu says. "The only thing I can say is, 'Trust us.'"

Robert Ho, a member of the Hotung family, disagrees. "The revitalization plan proposed by the Jockey Club is too slanted towards commercial uses, with large-scale food and beverage and retail outlets that would overwhelm the historical and cultural flavor," he said in a statement in October. Through a spokeswoman, he declined to comment further.

Activists feel local residents have been ignored. "Community engagement should have happened before they went to the drawing board, but what has happened now is totally the opposite, and the design is quite shocking," says lawyer Helena Yuen.

Hong Kong's government recently acknowledged the public demand for greater preservation of the city's historic buildings, in July creating a Development Bureau that will include a yet-to-be-appointed heritage commissioner.

The move is intended to bridge the gap between development and conservation by placing both under the same department. Previously, historic buildings and monuments were treated as part of the city's cultural affairs, and development needs often took precedence, such as when the Victorian-era Hong Kong Club building in the city's central business district was demolished in 1981, despite having been declared a monument. It was replaced with a modern high rise that still houses the club.

Of the police station and prison development, "we have been searching our souls on how to do this project," says Carrie Lam, who heads the new bureau as Secretary for Development. The Hotung proposal didn't provide enough access and facilities for the general public, she says. "Hong Kong people and tourists want activities and action, and they want something that could occupy their time, not just museums."

The Jockey Club's plan is preferable to auctioning off the site to private developers who would focus on maximizing profit, Ms. Lam says. "At the end of the day, if there is a strong body of opinion that the design architecture should be modified, then I'm sure we could find a way to meet the needs of most people," she says. "But you can't just ask around and get everybody nodding with something you believe is in the interest of Hong Kong."

Mr. Yiu of the Jockey Club says he has received requests to save items such as the bunk beds in the prison cells and worn carpeting on office floors. "Someone actually argued that there aren't many iron-roof sheds for parking cars anymore, so we should keep that," he says.

Still, given Hong Kong's recent history of battling over ever smaller scraps of heritage, any demolition on the site would be seen by some as a provocation.

"From the civil society point of view, we need to preserve all of the buildings," says Jeffrey Au, a founder of Heritage Watch, an umbrella organization for conservation groups. "They already cleared out the furniture and fixtures, so it's empty. How can we understand the history of the place?"

Government launches campaign to promote heritage conservation
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Government Press Release

The Government is committed to pressing ahead with heritage conservation work by introducing a range of policy initiatives and building partnerships with non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, made these remarks at the Heritage Discovery Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui, today (January 15) at the launching ceremony of the heritage conservation publicity campaign.

These policy initiatives include conducting heritage impact assessment for new capital works projects; partnering with NGOs to revitalise Government-owned historic buildings; using economic incentives to encourage owners of privately-owned historic buildings to preserve those buildings; and setting up a Commissioner for Heritage's Office.

Mrs Lam said that these Government efforts would only succeed with public support. "After all, the care which Hong Kong people have expressed for heritage originated from our passion for our culture and lifestyle and is something we all should cherish," Mrs Lam added.

Mrs Lam shared with guests attending the ceremony progress made on those heritage conservation initiatives since their announcement in the Chief Executive Policy Address last October. She said she was much encouraged by the positive response especially towards the "Revitalising Historic Buildings through Partnership Scheme". The Scheme would be formally launched after obtaining Legislative Council funding approval in February. Eligible NGOs would then be invited to submit revitalisation proposals.

The Development Bureau was launching a public awareness campaign on heritage conservation over the next three months, inviting members of the public to take part in exhibitions, seminars and guided tours to enhance their awareness and appreciation of Hong Kong's heritage. Highlights of the programme included a guided tour of the Yuen Long Ping Shan local heritage conducted by the renowned local designer Mr William Tang, himself an indigenous villager of the Yuen Long Tang Clan; a photo competition to capture the charm and uniqueness of Hong Kong's historic buildings; and roving exhibitions in seven shopping centres throughout Hong Kong.

Mrs Lam also paid tribute to organisations taking part in the exhibition showcasing their respective efforts in heritage conservation. They included the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Urban Renewal Authority, The University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Maryknoll Convent School, the Hong Kong Miniature Arts Society and Queen's College Old Boys' Association.

The Development Bureau has also set up a new webpage on heritage conservation (www.heritage.gov.hk) to enhance dissemination of heritage conservation information and to promote exchanges of views.

"We hope that through this campaign, the public will have a deeper understanding of the importance of heritage conservation, be inspired to contribute their views and ideas, and share our vision for heritage conservation," Mrs Lam said.

At today's launching ceremony, the Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Dr Richard Engelhardt, presented the 2007 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards Jury Commendation for Innovation to the Architectural Services Department for its innovative conservation and adaptation work for the former Whitfield Barracks, now the Heritage Discovery Centre. The barracks, built in 1910, has been successfully transformed with the addition of a new building structure and re-used as a multi-purpose cultural exhibition and education centre after careful and prudent conservation work.

Also officiating at today's ceremony are Chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board, Mr Edward Ho, and Chairman of the Urban Renewal Authority Board, Mr Barry Cheung.

A major focus of the public awareness campaign is a heritage conservation exhibition at the Heritage Discovery Centre from today to March. The exhibition features various heritage conservation measures and works and introduces successful examples of revitalised historic buildings. Models of beautiful historic buildings will be on display. Bookmarks featuring four such buildings will also be distributed as souvenirs. People can get details of the activities from the webpage on heritage conservation (www.heritage.gov.hk).

Open-door policy
A former prison is the venue for a major exhibition that explores the city's architectural future
18 January 2008
South China Morning Post

The cells are small, the metal grilles rusted and the tiny snatches of sky are depressingly blurred, yet these once-feared spaces in the former Central Police Station compound are now being redeemed as the home of an exhibition that explores the architectural future of the city and beyond.

Hong Kong's first architecture biennale will be in residence in this heritage landmark until March 15, featuring installations, workshops, and exhibitions. Admission is free and visitors can wander through the building's colonial interior, while learning about the built future from the likes of Hong Kong's Rocco Yim (the architect behind the Tamar site's The Door design), and top international names such as Steven Holl Architects, Atelier Bow-Wow and Herzog & de Meuron.

Although few obvious changes have been made, preparing the station proved challenging. "It was tough because it had been left deserted for almost two years," says architect and co-curator Martin Fung, who helped direct funds from the Hong Kong Jockey Club. "We had to convert it from the infrastructural side - water supplies and electricity - to the condition of the exhibition spaces, all to accommodate an event with some of the top architectural designers in the world."

The effort should prove worthwhile because the event is especially timely. The past few years have seen unprecedented interest from the public in the way that Hong Kong's architectural landscape is developing. Protests at the former Star Ferry and Queen's Pier may not have moved the government to reconsider its plans but had the positive effect of galvanising residents to become more concerned about preserving historical buildings and districts.

Local architects are also getting more involved. "In New York architects make social, political and artistic commentary. Hong Kong has limited venues for architects to express themselves publicly," says Jonathan Solomon, an assistant professor of architecture at the University of Hong Kong involved with an exhibit on the Hong Kong, Zuhai, Macau bridge project.

"Now there's more of a dialogue about the space of the city and people are looking around and saying, 'Why is it like this?' It's what happens when people feel they have a stake in their own city."

The event encompasses work from community groups, artists and governing bodies such as the Urban Renewal Authority. In one barrack building, urban planning comes into focus. REaD Beijing by Wang Lu and Shan Jun looks at how the capital is changing and offers abstract ideas for its development, while a Chinese University project shows how Kennedy Town has evolved.

There is room for more avant-garde designs - Vanke Crystal City in Tianjin shows a sports facility built inside the concrete foundations of an old factory, a modern venue in glass and aluminium that has a visible memory of the past.

"People are fixated on architecture as simply building buildings, so the conceptual, arty pieces here are great," says architect Kenneth Yeung. "This kind of thing is lacking in the profession, locally."

The key theme is "Refabricating the city", which considers the idea that cities must be regularly reworked in line with shifting trends and new technology. The topic has plenty of room for debate. Do cities have a sell-by date? How much of the past should be preserved for the future?

Some of the more interesting answers come from visionary architects such as Ma Yansong, who last year famously proposed to make a forest of Tiananmen Square.

The biennale may fly below the radar (publicity has been thin) but it's a positive sign for a city entering a new era of public interest in the way the city is shaped. It's a great way to see a historical building - even though there are questions about who the audience is.

"I do wonder who it's for exactly - for architects or for the public," says Tobias Berger, curator of Para/Site gallery. "Creatively, it's a start."

Hong Kong-Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture, daily, 10am to 6pm (closed Feb 6-8), Central Police Station Compound, 10 Hollywood Road, Central. Free admission. Ends Mar 15

Nurses win heritage appraisal for threatened quarters at Queen Mary
Hong Kong Standard
Thursday, January 24, 2008

A heritage assessment will be conducted on a 70-year-old hospital building after conservationists and nurses raised concerns over its proposed demolition.

The Hospital Authority is planning to knock down the nurses' quarters at Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam this year to make way for an accident and emergency and acute trauma and cardiac care center.

Answering a question by medical-sector lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki yesterday, Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok said the quarters is not listed as a graded building.

In reply, Kwok said:"Quite a number of staff from the hospital and conservationists believe the building should be preserved."

Conservancy Association chairwoman Betty Ho Siu-fong welcomed the assessment, saying the value of the building must be determined before it can be demolished. Chow defended the hospital's plans saying they would provide expanded state-of-the- art facilities, which would meet strong public demand for specialized tertiary services.

"We will carry out a heritage impact assessment and then review and consider the feasibility of the works project," Chow said.

In his policy address last year, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said all public works projects involving historic buildings would have to undergo such assessments so that their conservation could be considered during the project-planning stage.

Tsang's pledge was part of a package of government initiatives on heritage conservation following a number of high- profile disputes between conservationists and the government.

This is going to hinder so many things. I hope they take all this conservation stuff with a grain of salt, and not devolve into the USA.

This is going to hinder so many things. I hope they take all this conservation stuff with a grain of salt, and not devolve into the USA.

Don't think we're going in that direction, but we should seriously consider how these revitalizations don't turn into commercializations, and degrade the historic value of our very few remaining relics in the city centre.

Heritage sites recognised but remain ungraded
List of landmarks helps raise public awareness
28 January 2008
South China Morning Post

A list of government-owned historic sites, including the oldest surviving example of colonial architecture, has been compiled to recognise their heritage status.

None of the 34 sites has been graded by the Antiquities Advisory Board or declared a monument. They include the Cenotaph in Central, the boundary stones for the old city of Victoria, the chapel in the Hong Kong Cemetery in Happy Valley, the old KCRC Beacon Hill tunnel, and the Sung Wong Toi inscription rock in Kowloon City.

The list of sites was posted on the website of the Antiquities and Monuments Office this month under "Heritage Impact Assessment".

Lee Ho-yin, director of the architectural conservation programme at the University of Hong Kong, said some of the sites were important landmarks that were part of the city's collective memory.

"Items that recall experiences of the war can usually evoke the collective memory of a nation," he said.

"The same effect is achieved with the standing of the Cenotaph. It can reflect the collective memory of Hongkongers across generations as it commemorates the hardship and victory experienced by the people as a whole during the second world war."

The selection of the Beacon Hill tunnel was a groundbreaking step, as it revealed the government's gradual recognition of Hong Kong's industrial heritage, Dr Lee said. Boring the tunnel was regarded as the greatest engineering project in Asia at the time of its completion in 1910.

Dr Lee said the chapel in the Hong Kong Cemetery, built in 1845, was the oldest surviving piece of architecture in colonial style.

Lau Chi-pang, professor of history at Lingnan University and a member of the Antiquities Advisory Board, said City Hall and the six boundary stones were remarkable sites that deserved protection.

The boundary stones were erected by the colonial government in 1903 to mark the limits of the city of Victoria, which was one of the first urban settlements in Hong Kong after it became a British colony in 1842.

A spokeswoman for the Antiquities and Monuments Office said the list was released to facilitate the launch of the heritage impact assessment programme. Under the government's initiative, heritage impact assessments must be carried out if any public works project might affect the selected 35 sites, graded buildings or monuments. The requirement does not apply to privately funded projects.

Dr Lee and Dr Lau agreed the disclosure of the list was a good step forward in raising public awareness about ungraded heritage sites in Hong Kong, many of which are not commonly known. But Dr Lee said the government should step up its grading work, especially on well-known historic sites.

"I am amazed to find that the Sung Wong Toi inscription rock in Kowloon City - such an important and famous historic site - has not been graded or declared a monument yet," he said.

The rock is believed to have been constructed out of a boulder by followers of the last two boy emperors of the Southern Sung dynasty (1127-1279), who lived in Hong Kong from 1277 to 1279 after fleeing political turmoil.

The boulder was dislodged during the Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945 for the extension of Kai Tak airport. But a part inscribed with the three characters Sung Wong Toi - "Terrace of the Sung Kings" - survived the blasting operation and was salvaged after the war.

Strategy needed on heritage conservation
28 January 2008
South China Morning Post

Green belts preserve a delicate balance between our built environment and what remains of the natural environment. Given the density of urban development and the stresses it imposes on quality of life, they form a precious buffer that is not to be given up lightly.

But the Town Planning Board can grant exceptions. One that came to light last week was a proposal that would pave the way for declaring the historic King Yin Lei mansion an official monument and saving it from demolition. It is a swap of an adjacent green-belt site for residential development by the mansion's owner, agreed between the government and the Antiquities Advisory Board.

The government claims this will not disturb the natural or visual environment. The head of a conservation group has described it as a "win-win" solution to a conflict between the rights of the owner and heritage preservation. It remains to be seen how much of the mansion's original appearance, defaced by demolition works, can be restored. Significantly, the proposal is a milestone in meeting community expectations that future development is balanced with preservation of the city's remaining heritage.

In principle it is the right way forward. But we need to ensure such swaps are appropriate and reasonable. Balancing conservation and development, property rights and heritage protection is a complex issue that remains to be resolved. While in this case a way that seems to have pleased every stakeholder has been found, the city still needs a conservation strategy implemented by a body with the power and resources to protect and preserve our history. Where a heritage issue is financially or environmentally controversial, the strategy should provide for the public to be consulted.

Meanwhile, the government has released a list of 34 historic sites it owns that are neither official monuments nor graded by the Antiquities Advisory Board. This is to pave the way for a heritage assessment programme for public works. The initiative is welcome, as it will help raise public awareness of such potentially vulnerable heritage. But it is even more

Bids eyed in helping put zing back to historic cluster
Hong Kong Standard
Wednesday, February 13, 2008

The development bureau yesterday invited nonprofit organizations interested in reusing the historic Grade I Blue House Cluster in Wan Chai to send in their proposals under the social enterprise scheme.
The cluster includes the blue two-story, balconied tenement on Stone Nullah Lane, which was built in the 1920s, the yellow house on Hing Wan Street and the orange house on King Sing Street.

The bureau earlier said those currently living in the cluster could stay and would be incorporated as part of any revitalization plan, a change from its earlier stand that they must all be evicted.

Under this approach, the Hong Kong Housing Society will acquire the buildings' private ownerships and offer rehousing or compensation, then hand over the acquired properties to the government.

For those who opt to stay, the revitalization proposal must accommodate them in addition to improving their current shabby living conditions, especially since the buildings do not have modern toilets. Any proposal will have to include interim housing arrangements within Wan Chai for tenants during the renovation. All households have been notified about the arrangement, and an invitation for the reuse of the cluster will be announced later this year.

The cluster is not among the seven government buildings under the bureau's Revitalizing Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme. But the government will provide similar financial support for its reuse such as a one-off grant to renovate the buildings and a maximum HK$5 million to cover the starting costs and operating deficits of the social enterprise.

St James Settlement officer-in-charge Laurence Lam Kwok-wai confirmed his organization will apply to reuse the buildings.

He said the focus will be an innovative small business which can involve existing residents. But he said it would be difficult to run the enterprise successfully enough to pay for the annual maintenance costs that could add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"This is the first time ever in which a heritage building with residents is to be preserved," Lam said. "We have to treasure the existing content and think of how to emphasize it as part of heritage education. It has an important role to play for future generations."

Architects turn up heat in conservation bid
Hong Kong Standard
Friday, February 15, 2008

Showcasing alternative visions for the Central Police Station compound, architects and urban planners yesterday called on the government to have a rethink before accepting the Hong Kong Jockey Club's HK$1.8 billion facelift proposal.

Organized by Heritage Hong Kong Foundation, the exhibition showcases seven designs and two site analyses in an attempt to stimulate debate on the Hollywood Road compound's conservation and its integration with new buildings.

The exhibition comes in the wake of the HK$1.8 billion facelift proposal the club unveiled in October and which will see the compound turned into an art and commercial site.

The most controversial part of the Jockey Club's plan is the 160-meter arts tower designed by famed architects Herzog and de Meuron featuring bamboo scaffolding-like external structures.

The plan was criticized by conservationists, architects and residents who say it does not merge with the compound's atmosphere and will block the views of nearby buildings.

Comprising the Central Police Station, Victoria Prison and the Central Magistracy, the compound was declared a monument in 1995; its oldest building was built in 1864.

Architect and urban planner Peter Cookson Smith, founding director of planning design firm Urbis, which is taking part in the exhibition, said the Jockey Club had become the sole agency pushing the project while other suggestions were left out in the cold.

Urbis, on a commission by the Swire Group in 2000, was the first firm to explore the compound's potential. It proposed simple renovations of the compound's 17 heritage buildings with a mix of small arts facilities, studios, shops and restaurants.

Smith disagreed with the club's "shock and awe" approach, saying the tower was completely out of proportion with the heritage compound.

Over the years, the historically rich compound has attracted various reuse proposals from interested parties, none of which caught the government's attention until the Jockey Club came up with its fully-funded offer.

In 2004, the Hotung family made a HK$500 million offer to redevelop the compound into a cultural complex with a visual arts academy, arts facilities, shops and cafes but the plan was rejected by the government.

Philip Liao, the architect behind the design, said his concept is not to build iconic buildings but to preserve the old and to inject new life into them.

Hollywood Road site likely to be kept off application list
19 February 2008
Hong Kong Standard

The Development Bureau aims to leave the former police married quarters in Hollywood Road out of the list of sites to be sold by application. Instead, the site is likely be used for government and community facilities and much needed public space, according to a report to be submitted to the Legislative Council's heritage conservation panel.

The 6,000-square-meter site descends from Staunton Street to Hollywood Road comprising two blocks of ex-police married quarters and a clubhouse for Junior Police Call.

It is currently zoned as Residential (A), and was removed from the List of Sites for Sale by Application announced in October 2007.

In revitalizing the site, the bureau proposed retaining the existing walls and the trees growing on them, the granite steps and the original granite plinths and pillars of the fenced wall.

The site will become part of an area to be developed for heritage tourism, such as the Central Police Station compound, Man Mo Temple and the Kom Tong Hall's Dr Sun Yat- sen museum. One proposal is to keep both blocks while the other is to demolish both.

Another proposal, which the bureau considers has the most flexibility, is to retain the upper block and demolish the lower one.

Another idea is to refurbish the JPC clubhouse into an exhibition gallery, tracing the history of one of Hong Kong's first schools.

The bureau will begin a three-month public engagement exercise on the future use of the site. The historic site was where the colony's first government institution used to stand.

The Central School, set up in 1862 on Gough Street, was attended by the founder of modern China, Sun Yat-sen.

Katty Law Ngar-ning from Central and Western Concern Group said the bureau should state clearly its commitment to preserve the site for community use.

``I will be very happy if the site is returned to public use,'' she said.

Law hoped the government would listen to the community over the next months and that with its massive surplus, there was no need to allow it to fall into the hands of developers.

The group applied to the Town Planning Board in January last year to change the land use to open space, government and community use, but this is now on hold because of an archaeological study.

URA plans to revamp 65 tenements
Hong Kong Standard
Tuesday, February 26, 2008

The Urban Renewal Authority will next month unveil its revitalization plans for 65 tenement houses in Hong Kong.
Authority chairman Barry Cheung Chun-yuen said the houses, ranging from Grade I to Grade III, had been identified and the authority will announce an "action plan" of revitalization by the end of March.

The direction of their conservation and rejuvenation will be similar to the authority's newly renovated tenement building at 18 Ship Street, which has been transformed into an organic restaurant scheduled to open this weekend.

It is the authority's first such project and Cheung noted the cost of renovation would have to be balanced alongside the building's historic value.

The Grade II building, built in the late 1930s, was the home of the Tse family, which ran an architectural contract business.

Most of the three-story building's elements were kept intact, such as the moulding on the facade and the former company's golden engravings, brass handrails and patterned tiles typically found in early 20th century buildings.

A similar renovation of the former Woo Chang pawn shop on Johnston Road is to be opened as a restaurant in April.

Cheung said the booming economy will not be a deterrent to redeveloping old districts, although acquisitions will be more difficult.

The owner of the Ship Street restaurant, Margaret Xu Yuan, also runs an organic delicacies restaurant. She said she strolled by the old building one day and fell in love with the nostalgic atmosphere. She named the restaurant "Yin Yang" and said it will specialize in local delicacies cooked with organic ingredients.

The restaurant now has a touch of the early 20th century with round wooden tables and chairs in white coverings with navy borders.

The authority injected HK$3 million into renovating the building, and outfitted it with a lift, a washroom for the handicapped and a fire escape.

Xu will pay monthly rent of HK$40,000 plus 12 percent of turnover.

Also announced yesterday was the appointment of URA's executive director Quinn Law as its new managing director.

Law has been with the authority for three years, and had previous experience in property investment and business strategy formulation.

URA considers buying heritage buildings
3 March 2008
South China Morning Post

The Urban Renewal Authority is considering buying some pre-war buildings with Cantonese-style terraces in order to preserve them.

But other options, including providing incentives to the owners to properly maintain the buildings, would also be considered, the authority's chairman, Barry Cheung Chun-yuen, said.

An action plan outlining how these pre-war buildings would be preserved is to be submitted to the URA's board for consideration later this month.

"These buildings represent part of Hong Kong history," Mr Cheung said. "Not many buildings with such architectural merits are left. The community will approve it as a way of preserving Hong Kong's history."

Mr Cheung said buildings with Cantonese-style terraces were scattered around the city, including in Mong Kok, Prince Edward, Wan Chai and Sham Shiu Po. Most were in private hands, he said.

A classic example of such architecture is the Woo Cheong Pawn Shop in Johnston Road, Wan Chai. The four-storey building is preserved by the URA and will be converted into commercial use. A shophouse at 18 Ship Street, a grade two historical building in the same district, has been converted into a restaurant after refurbishment.

"We can't compel the owners to keep the buildings," he said. "I hope to work with them, providing them with incentives [to preserve the buildings]."

So far, the URA has preserved seven of the pre-war buildings.

His comments follow last week's budget in which Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah pledged that the URA would use part of a HK$10 billion injection to strengthen its work to revitalise old areas and preserve old buildings.

Mr Cheung pointed out that preservation work was costly and there were no financial returns. "For redevelopment projects, our objective is to break even so that we can generate resources to compensate the residents," he said. "But for the preservation projects, we need resources that are separately allocated."

Gov't Press Release:
LCQ17: Historical buildings (http://info.gov.hk/gia/general/200803/12/P200803120170.htm)

Urban Renewal Authority Press Release:
URA Expands Conservation Strategy for Cantonese Verandah-type Shophouses (http://ura.org.hk/html/c1002081e268e.html)

Examples for Cantonese Verandah-type Shophouses from the photos posted hkskyline in post#17 of this topic (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=13971268&postcount=17)

Historic sites to escape wreckers
Hong Kong Standard
Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Bridges Street market and five postwar buildings in Sheung Wan have been saved from the wrecker's ball.

They will be conserved and turned into places commemorating Dr Sun Yat-sen, the founder of modern China.

In addition, new buildings in the area will not be allowed to exceed 25 stories.

The Urban Renewal Authority's planning and development executive director, Iris Tam Siu-ying, unveiled the plans for Staunton and Wing Lee streets yesterday.

The proposals relate to three sites covering a total area of 3,563 square meters, with a plot ratio of eight and a maximum building height of 100m. They cover an area around Centre Point, a Henderson Land residential project, and have a 150-year history.

"The buildings will not be more than 25 stories to cater for environmental and ventilation impacts," Tam said.

The authority has proposed the retention of a series of buildings, including Bridges Street market, and proposes to use them to commemorate Sun, although the exact nature of the commemoration was not made clear.

"Dr Sun used to perform baptisms in a building at the site of the market. It was destroyed in World War II and the market was then built there," said Tam, adding the roof of the market will be turned into a public open space.

The authority also proposes to conserve the terrace characteristics of Wing Lee Street and the stone steps at Shing Wong Street, which lie alongside and behind the market.

Two postwar low-rise buildings on Staunton Street and three on Wing Lee Street near the market will also be conserved.

"The four-story buildings are around 500 square feet per unit and can be used for cafes, restaurants, shops or community use," Tam said.

Other buildings on Wing Lee Street will be redeveloped into three- to four-story low-rise buildings to blend in.

Post-war Staunton St marketwill be preserved in revamp
8 April 2008
South China Morning Post

Hong Kong's first permanent post-war market - Bridges Street Market - will be retained in the redevelopment project at Staunton Street, Central, the Urban Renewal Authority said yesterday.

Five post-war tenement buildings and 100-year-old lanes will also be preserved under the authority's revised master layout plan submitted to the Town Planning Board. The new proposal will be released for public consultation today.

Authority executive director Iris Tam Siu-ying estimated that restoring the five dilapidated buildings would cost more than HK$20 million. But this would not add significantly to the total cost of HK$1.06 billion.

The development site was divided into three smaller sites because 19 per cent of the area, owned by Henderson Land, was excluded from the redevelopment area last year.

The authority was required to submit a revised master layout plan to the Town Planning Board.

"Apart from keeping the historic lanes and staircases, a few post-war tenement buildings and the first post-war market will be preserved," Ms Tam said.

According to the heritage assessment, the market is the first permanent post-war market in Hong Kong and was completed in 1951. It is also Hong Kong's first market built in the Bauhaus style - which can be seen in its asymmetry, extensive windows and utilitarian design.

Ms Tam said the market had two levels of historic value because it was also the site of the Preaching Home of the American Congregational Mission, where Sun Yat-sen, regarded as the founder of modern China, was baptised in 1883.

In December, plans were released offering the option of retaining the old market or demolishing it to make way for a Sun Yat-sen memorial square. The new plan saves the market, but the interior will be renovated to provide facilities for commemorating Sun's life and for community use. Open space on top of the two-storey market will be accessible from Shing Wong Street.

The new plan has still not gained full support from activists, who expressed concern that two planned 30-storey high-rises would block air flow and create a damaging visual impact on the area.

"Why can't we keep the current height and density?" Central and Western Concern Group spokeswoman Katty Law Ngar-ning asked.

Green group fights luxury homes bid at market site
21 April 2008
Hong Kong Standard

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070721/IMG_8020.jpg

In the latest conservation battle over a historic site, a green group said yesterday it is seeking to block the erection of a 39-story building on the site of Wan Chai market.

Green Sense has filed an objection with the Town Planning Board voicing its opposition to the development of a 148-meter high luxury housing complex above the market, despite a pledge by the Urban Renewal Authority to preserve the structure as a Grade III building. After a bitter fight between conservationists and the URA last year over plans to demolish the market, the URA bowed to public pressure and decided to preserve the historic building under a HK$300 million plan to revamp Wan Chai.

But Green Sense was not appeased by the decision and said the housing development should not go ahead.

``The URA claims this is a form of conservation but that is not the case. The heritage value of this building will be ruined,'' Green Sense president Roy Tam Hoi-pong said.

``Wan Chai has been destroyed by different forms of redevelopment.''

Tam said the building would not retain its original function as a market and would, instead, make way for a shopping center.

Under URA plans, the front of the building will become a 929-square- meter shopping arcade and a parking lot and lift shafts will be built at the back where the market's eight supporting pillars stand. About 40 percent of the market structure will be preserved while 60 percent at the rear will be removed to insert the high rise.

As a second option, Green Sense will suggest the residences be built on top of an underused government education center opposite the market.

Chinese Estates already has the rights to build the complex.

Conservationist Ho Loy, who has thrown her support behind Green Sense, said the property developer does not understand why conservationists are protesting.

``Developers do not see themselves as shareholders of this city _ they feel no responsibility or public duty to retain buildings of public value.'' Ho said.

The market's 70 hawker stalls will be shifted into a new shopping mall called Zenith opposite the current site.

But Ho said an indoor market in a shopping mall would not work.

Gov't Press Release:
Government welcomes rezoning amendments for preservation of King Yin Lei (http://info.gov.hk/gia/general/200804/25/P200804250128.htm)

Revamp of heritage site behind schedule
Cheung Kong has not revealed reasons for delay on former marine police headquarters
27 April 2008
South China Morning Post

Redevelopment of the former marine police headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui - long seen as a flagship for restoration of Hong Kong's heritage buildings - is running well behind schedule, with the government and developer refusing to reveal why.

The restoration of the 120-year-old site into a 132,000 sq ft retail and hotel complex was supposed to be finished on March 31.

Cheung Kong (Holdings), which paid HK$325.8 million for a 50-year land grant in May 2003, has already been warned repeatedly by the government about the delay of the project.

Workers have now been told to complete the project by July, but they believe the restoration will not be finished until at least August.

The government has sent six warning letters to Cheung Kong since November 1 asking it to explain the reasons for the delay and the estimated date of completion.

The government said the developer had set out the reasons for the delay and it was now examining them.

A government spokeswoman said it was possible developers had to pay compensation when projects were delayed.

"But in the case of the marine police headquarters, there has not yet been any decision," the spokeswoman said.

Cheung Kong did not get back to the Sunday Morning Post about reasons for the delay or the expected completion date.

A consultancy involved with the development said it had been told by Cheung Kong to keep all details about the project confidential.

Ng Cho-nam, a Town Planning Board member, demanded the government and developer disclose the reasons for the delay because they involved considerable social and economic costs to society.

"This is a project which should be open and transparent as it is a public resource. There should be commitment.

"The public has the right to know the reason for the delay and whether there have been any penalities or unreasonable tolerance by the administration."

Dr Ng said the redevelopment of the marine police headquarters was supposed to be "a role model" of ways of revitalising a historic monument and public expectations were high.

"The delay has to be taken seriously. The Central Police Station might adopt a similar model in the future," he said.

Architect Vincent Ng Wing-shun, a former vice-president of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects and member of the Harbourfront Enhancement Committee, said compensation for the delay was necessary.

A worker at the site, who preferred to remain anonymous, said piling work had proved difficult because the ground was solid granite.

Part of the redevelopment included the controversial removal of the Tsim Sha Tsui hill to build a shopping arcade to overhang the structure.

"This site is in Tsim Sha Tsui, so everyone pays attention to it," the worker said.

"The site also has limited hours when piling can be done. The Cultural Centre, for example, may complain if construction noise is too loud."

Work on the site was now running from early morning until late at night in the hope of limiting the length of the delay.

"We were told by the developer to have it finished by July, but we don't expect it to be finished until August," the worker said.

The former marine police headquarters was built 120 years ago on a hill overlooking Victoria Harbour.

It is one of the four oldest surviving government buildings in Hong Kong.

The site had been eyed by developers since it was vacated in 1996.

Most of the buildings within the site were declared monuments under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance.

The developer has previously angered conservationists by cutting down hundreds of mature trees and removing the hill to build the arcade.

Lawmakers clash over conservation policy
Hong Kong Standard
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

The government has approved the development of a controversial low-value ecological site at a country park as part of its nature conservation policy, the panel on environmental affairs revealed yesterday.
But lawmakers and green groups hit back, claiming the scheme did not go far enough to preserve country parks and that development should not be encouraged on green-belt land.

Sha Lo Tung is the first of 12 privately owned sites, earmarked by the government for conservation, to receive the green light for development by the Advisory Council on the Environment.

In exchange for developing an educational retreat and columbarium complex on low-value land, the owner will surrender all valuable land to the government, which will plough HK$120 million into conservation.

But Environment Secretary Edward Yau Tang-wah said there were still issues to iron out and the scheme is subject to Town Planning Board approval.

The government rejected five other applications under nature conservation policy, sparking criticism of the slow- pace and narrow scope of the scheme.

Lawmakers argued the scheme at Sha Lo Tung represented only 0.5 percent of the 12 sites identified by the government, and that a more sustainable option would be plot ratio swaps.

They said the government should not target country parks for development. Yau argued that the scheme was a sustainable option as it gave power to the landowner to conserve the land through the project.

Gov't Press Release:
Maryknoll Convent School declared a monument (with photos) (http://info.gov.hk/gia/general/200805/16/P200805160101.htm)

From the Gazette (http://www.gld.gov.hk/cgi-bin/gld/egazette/gazettefiles.cgi?lang=e&year=2008&month=5&day=16&vol=12&no=20&gn=135&header=1&acurrentpage=12&df=1&nt=s2&agree=1&gaz_type=ls2&part=1&newfile=1&pid=)

Back plan or mansion goes: owners' ultimatum
Contractors ready to knock down historic Jessville
17 May 2008
South China Morning Post

Owners of a historic mansion in Pok Fu Lam have threatened to tear it down unless the government backs their proposal to erect three multi-storey residential blocks on the site.

Ian Brownlee, planning consultant for Jessville's owners, said the hoardings were in place in preparation for demolition, but they had no definite schedule for work to start.

The 77-year-old structure, declared a proposed monument last year, was later denied monument status after the government said it had an assurance from the owners that the mansion would be kept as a residents' clubhouse.

The building was later classified by the Antiquities Advisory Board as a grade 3 listed building, which gives it no legal protection.

"We have no reason why the building can't be demolished," Mr Brownlee said. "The talks with the government have made no progress and the owners are ready to push ahead with the demolition plan."

He said the owners only wanted the government to agree to their proposal, which would enable development with a plot ratio of three, which was permitted under the outline zoning plan. "I don't know why the government does not support the proposal. We want to find out."

The owners propose to build three residential blocks of 13 to 27 storeys with 102 flats around the historic building. No extra land is needed, but the towers closest to the mansion will only be separated from it by a few metres.

A spokeswoman for the Development Bureau said the government had not received an application from the owners to demolish the mansion and had not entered any agreement with the owners on development density.

"We support an option which can achieve 'preservation-cum-development'," she said.

The Southern District Council had raised objections to the proposed scale of development and was worried the owners' rezoning proposal might have negative visual and traffic impacts.

Lawmaker Audrey Eu Yuet-mee, who chairs a Legislative Council subcommittee on the heritage status of Jessville, said it would be an administrative blunder if the mansion were torn down. "The government decided to lift the temporary monument status of the mansion. Now, the fate of the house is entirely in the hands of the owner," she said.

Legislator Patrick Lau Sau-shing, an Antiquities Advisory Board member, said the board would be "cheated" by the government if the demolition took place.

"We agreed to giving a grading to the mansion after getting reassurances from the government that it is to be preserved," he said.

The government should give the owners the right to realise the development potential of the site if the mansion could be preserved, he said.

Gov't Press Release:
Government welcomes rezoning amendments for preservation of King Yin Lei (http://info.gov.hk/gia/general/200804/25/P200804250128.htm)

Finally Declared! :okay:

Gov't Press Release:
King Yin Lei declared a monument (with photos) (http://info.gov.hk/gia/general/200807/11/P200807110148.htm)

From Gov't Gazette (http://www.gld.gov.hk/cgi-bin/gld/egazette/gazettefiles.cgi?lang=e&year=2008&month=7&day=11&vol=12&no=28&gn=200&header=1&acurrentpage=12&df=1&nt=s2&agree=1&gaz_type=ls2&part=1&newfile=1&pid=)

Finally Declared! :okay:

Gov't Press Release:
King Yin Lei declared a monument (with photos) (http://info.gov.hk/gia/general/200807/11/P200807110148.htm)

From Gov't Gazette (http://www.gld.gov.hk/cgi-bin/gld/egazette/gazettefiles.cgi?lang=e&year=2008&month=7&day=11&vol=12&no=28&gn=200&header=1&acurrentpage=12&df=1&nt=s2&agree=1&gaz_type=ls2&part=1&newfile=1&pid=)

http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/200807/11/P200807110148_photo_412149.JPG

http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/200807/11/P200807110148_photo_412150.JPG

Central Police Station
Chance for a landmark site should not be lost
16 July 2008
South China Morning Post

The architecturally exciting transparent tower that was proposed by the Jockey Club as the centrepiece of its redevelopment of the Central Police Station site is not to be. Residents shot down the idea during the public consultation process as hindering their views and being a potential source of light pollution. It is disappointing that the project is now back to square one and the city has lost what could well have been its boldest landmark.

Hong Kong, it seems, is not yet ready for such innovation. The concerns of those living on Caine Road and elsewhere looking over the historic site are understandable. With the 168-metre scaffolding-clad structure expected to be removed from the proposal in favour of a shorter, squatter building, their harbour views will be preserved. Nonetheless, it is a pity that a "not in my backyard" mentality by so small a proportion of our population has played a part in putting paid to the design. One of the world's most recognisable buildings, the Sydney Opera House, met with similar objections during the design process. Authorities nonetheless went ahead with the project and the opera house is now synonymous with Sydney. International polls rank it among the best-known structures in the world.

All is not lost, of course. The Jockey Club has sent the project back to the same architects and in a year, as stunning an edifice could well be presented. Given that they were behind the "Bird's Nest" national stadium in Beijing, we can still hope for a great design. A different tack is also now being taken, focusing on redeveloping in a way that very much keeps the spirit of the historic site intact. The police station complex dates back to the beginning of the colonial era. The new proposal calls for the scaling back of the size of arts venues and leaving open spaces in their original context. These are wise moves, given sentiment towards greater heritage conservation in recent years. That the site is also large in area, on prime ground and in the heart of our city means that it has to be developed in a careful way.

The Jockey Club won the right to develop the site in unsatisfactory circumstances. Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen revealed the scheme and announced the club would be the developer in his policy address nine months ago. Such a lack of transparency for a project valued at HK$1.8 billion was surprising. Nonetheless, the club has since gone about the plan in as responsible a manner as could be wished for. The views of the 567 written submissions and people who visited the exhibit during the six-month consultation process have been taken into consideration. Proposed plans have been torn up and new ones ordered.

Large-scale projects are not easy to get approved in Hong Kong. Our government well knows it lacks a popular mandate to rule, so can be overly sensitive to criticism of the schemes it puts forward. Experience has shown, however, that there is a need to win community support for such projects and this involves taking consultation exercises seriously.

The redevelopment of the Central Police Station still offers the chance to put in place something special. Blending history with arts and culture is the ideal way to deal with our heritage. If done well, it could serve as a model for other historic and culturally significant places in our city. It is disappointing that the designs for the observation tower have been confined to the waste basket. The circumstances under which it happened were as they should be, though. We can only hope that what is eventually built on the site is as eye-catching.

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2008/0720/IMG_1834.jpg

MTR Press Release:
Historic Building revitalized under MTR West Island Line Project (http://mtr.com.hk/eng/corporate/file_rep/PR-08-072-E.pdf)

Repulse Bay hotel plan to be released for public consultation
6 September 2008
South China Morning Post

The Town Planning Board has agreed to release the rezoning plan of the Seaview Building in Repulse Bay for public consultation, amid disagreements over its architectural value and doubts about the commercial feasibility of a hotel business on the site.

The beachfront site is proposed as a "comprehensive development area", allowing a range of uses including a hotel, barbecue spots, eating places, shops, and recreation and sports. Height is capped at 13 metres, less than 2 metres higher than the present building.

The draft outline zoning plan will be gazetted for public consultation then return to the board for approval, it decided at a meeting yesterday.

Meanwhile a businessman has told the board he is interested in running a business in the Seaview Building. In a letter, Dmitry Fedotov, who runs cafes with a partner on Big Wave Bay Beach and South Bay Beach on Hong Kong Island, said his group was ready to invest and revive the building as a cultural and recreational venue, with activities such as a spa and yachting classes.

He said the group would submit a restoration proposal during the consultation.

Board member and architect Bernard Lim Wan-fung, who visited the site some years ago, said he did not see any great architectural value in it.

"The balustrades seem to have been added by restaurant operators and look fake. It looks as if the structure was expanded over the years," he told the South China Morning Post after the meeting.

He said he saw no need to preserve the building if it was unsuitable for new commercial uses, adding that he was satisfied the planning rules would ensure the redevelopment would not be too large.

Some months ago district councillors were shown a government archive picture indicating the building in the 1960s had a different look.

Lee Ho-yin, architectural conservation programme director at the University of Hong Kong, said he could not judge the merits of the building from the photo and maintained the Antiquities and Monuments Office should release its study to clarify the confusion about when alterations and additions were made to the original fixtures.

"It doesn't hurt if the study proves it is not historic," said Mr Lee, who a day earlier said the building could have been built in a hybrid style known as Chinese Renaissance. "But the contents should be released to convince people. It's the procedural transparency that matters."

Another board member, surveyor Raymond Chan Yuk-ming, said it was up to the public to decide whether to demolish or preserve the building but he doubted that a hotel would be the best commercial use.

"Hong Kong has a lot of hotels. The small site and height restriction would only result in a hotel with 10-odd guestrooms. And it cannot provide much privacy to guests with a public beach in the front. It wouldn't seem a good idea," Mr Chan said.

He was also concerned that the hotel would block access from Beach Road to the coast, and urged the future developer to maintain a public passageway through the site.

The Seaview Building is thought to have been built during the 1940s and 1950s and was a restaurant until 2005. The proposed commercial or hotel development would include the building and the adjacent open-air car park, which lies along one-third of the beach.

Heritage grant scheme called too restrictive Incentives needed, critics say
4 September 2008
South China Morning Post

A government grant scheme for maintaining private historic buildings is too restrictive and officials should include more technical aid to raise incentives for building owners to take part, town planners and conservation experts say.

Their comments came a week after the scheme, revealed in the chief executive's policy address as part of the new heritage policy, began accepting applications last Thursday. No applications had been received by yesterday.

The scheme, aimed at more than 200 privately owned historic buildings, runs parallel to a HK$1 billion plan for non-government organisations to revitalise public historic sites.

Successful applicants can receive up to HK$600,000 to help them renovate their buildings, but with a budget of just HK$2 million this year, critics doubt it is adequate to satisfy demand.

While terming the scheme "a good pilot", Antiquities Advisory Board member Ng Cho-nam said the total sum was too small. "Only three or four buildings will be saved. But there are many schools and temples on the list which need help."

He hoped enough applications would come in to reflect the genuine demand, pushing the government to provide more money.

The Development Bureau said the sum could be increased to meet large demand. The scheme would run continuously, and owners could apply more than once for the same building, a spokesman said.

Successful applicants cannot demolish or sell their buildings within 10 years after renovation work is done, except with the government's consent.

They should also allow "reasonable public access", normally free of charge. They must suggest parts of the building and times for opening to visitors.

"The public-access requirement narrows the scheme's scope. Some private properties may not want to open to the public. The government will need to think about management arrangements," Dr Ng said.

Lee Ho-yin, director of the University of Hong Kong's architectural conservation programme, said the government was asking owners to deal with too many technicalities.

Applicants must find contractors for the maintenance work, submit progress reports and obtain no fewer than five quotations for the work contract. They must also state how the building can benefit the community.

Given the limited resources, the government will give priority to buildings with urgent repair needs, more public access and higher benefits to the community.

"Many owners are old people who know nothing about conservation," Dr Lee said. "The Antiquities and Monuments Office should not only supervise but also participate in the process. Otherwise a mere grant is no adequate incentive to preserve."

Diocesan Boys' School has indicated interest in the scheme. Headmaster Terence Chang Cheuk-cheung said the maximum grant would suit the school's needs.

The Grade3 historic building, dating back to the 1920s, has needed constant repairs. Water leaks through the roof tiles and termites attack the wooden pillars. The school has spent more than HK$1 million to fix the problems in the past four years. Maintenance projects costing more than HK$2 million are paid for by the Education Bureau.

The school would find no difficulty meeting the no-demolition and no-sale requirements for the grant, Mr Chang said.

Preserving past best way to revive Tai O, say design winners
9 September 2008
South China Morning Post

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070303/RIMG0217.jpg

The winners of a design competition seeking ways to revitalise Tai O have called for "minimal intervention" in the old fishing village.

Cultural tourism was the main theme of the first-prize submission among entries from professional groups.

"Too much new development will affect residents' lives and make Tai O commercialised and over-touristy," said Fanny Ang Bing-hun, 31, an architecture graduate now working for the government.

She and her teammates and former classmates - Stephen Chow Hon-bong and Jimmy Tsui Ka-chun - spent two months on their design and decided that the best way to enliven the village would be to preserve rather than develop.

The group identified dozens of spots in the area that are in need of minor improvements to facilities rather than new buildings. For example, stilt houses would be repaired for residents while some vacant residences would be converted to house oral history archives and historic photos and drawings. Several piers would be added to different spots to strengthen the local traffic network.

Noting that the residents of Tai O have a dragon boat team, the designers included waterfront stands for watching races. Another site would be arranged to stage performances of San Gong Opera, a Cantonese style of drama performed in temporary structures during festivals. Instead of building a new lookout to view the mangroves and wetlands, the team suggested converting residents' rooftops to serve the same purpose.

The competition, which attracted 36 entries in the professional group and 69 in the open group, was part of the public consultation for the Tai O revitalisation plan.

While presenting prizes yesterday, Development Bureau head Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the government would fully consider the winning proposals when working out a revitalisation plan. A sum of HK$600 million has been reserved for the project.

Officials are studying a comprehensive revitalisation plan, and are to finish by the middle of next year. Priority works, including flood prevention and a pilot scheme for repairing the disused salt pans, will start in 2010. Officials are looking for a site for the pilot project.

The salt pans will likely become an exhibition, rather than a business operation, for students and tourists.

Heritage grant scheme called too restrictive
Incentives needed, critics say
4 September 2008
South China Morning Post

A government grant scheme for maintaining private historic buildings is too restrictive and officials should include more technical aid to raise incentives for building owners to take part, town planners and conservation experts say.

Their comments came a week after the scheme, revealed in the chief executive's policy address as part of the new heritage policy, began accepting applications last Thursday. No applications had been received by yesterday.

The scheme, aimed at more than 200 privately owned historic buildings, runs parallel to a HK$1 billion plan for non-government organisations to revitalise public historic sites.

Successful applicants can receive up to HK$600,000 to help them renovate their buildings, but with a budget of just HK$2 million this year, critics doubt it is adequate to satisfy demand.

While terming the scheme "a good pilot", Antiquities Advisory Board member Ng Cho-nam said the total sum was too small. "Only three or four buildings will be saved. But there are many schools and temples on the list which need help."

He hoped enough applications would come in to reflect the genuine demand, pushing the government to provide more money.

The Development Bureau said the sum could be increased to meet large demand. The scheme would run continuously, and owners could apply more than once for the same building, a spokesman said.

Successful applicants cannot demolish or sell their buildings within 10 years after renovation work is done, except with the government's consent.

They should also allow "reasonable public access", normally free of charge. They must suggest parts of the building and times for opening to visitors.

"The public-access requirement narrows the scheme's scope. Some private properties may not want to open to the public. The government will need to think about management arrangements," Dr Ng said.

Lee Ho-yin, director of the University of Hong Kong's architectural conservation programme, said the government was asking owners to deal with too many technicalities.

Applicants must find contractors for the maintenance work, submit progress reports and obtain no fewer than five quotations for the work contract. They must also state how the building can benefit the community.

Given the limited resources, the government will give priority to buildings with urgent repair needs, more public access and higher benefits to the community.

"Many owners are old people who know nothing about conservation," Dr Lee said. "The Antiquities and Monuments Office should not only supervise but also participate in the process. Otherwise a mere grant is no adequate incentive to preserve."

Diocesan Boys' School has indicated interest in the scheme. Headmaster Terence Chang Cheuk-cheung said the maximum grant would suit the school's needs.

The Grade3 historic building, dating back to the 1920s, has needed constant repairs. Water leaks through the roof tiles and termites attack the wooden pillars. The school has spent more than HK$1 million to fix the problems in the past four years. Maintenance projects costing more than HK$2 million are paid for by the Education Bureau.

The school would find no difficulty meeting the no-demolition and no-sale requirements for the grant, Mr Chang said.

巿建局保育活化20幢戰前唐樓
星島
9月19日

巿建局計劃動用13億元，保育活化太子道西近花墟及上海街合共20幢戰前唐樓。伸延至行人路的露台，由兩條磚砌的支柱支撐俗稱「騎樓」，是戰前唐樓的最大特色，30年代興建，揉合中西建築風格，當時被稱為「摩登住宅」。在太子道西花墟附近，有全港現存的唐樓群；在上海街，相連的唐樓形成長長的廻廊，行人不用日曬雨淋。本港目前只剩下70多幢唐樓，不少已經很殘破，不適宜居住。巿建局計劃動用13億元，收購上海街及太子道西20幢唐樓重建，涉及70多戶，巿建局表示，會保留唐樓群的特色。市建局人員今日去到太子道西近花墟，10幢有廣州式「騎樓」的戰前唐樓，進行凍結人口登記，防止有人趁機要求賠償。工作人員貼出告示，指這些樓宇會進行活化保育。市建局表示，會以市值租金讓7檔花檔繼續經營，樓上加入書店及舞蹈室等，變成文藝花墟。至於上海街10幢屬於一級歷史建築的唐樓，殘破不適合居住，市建局會收購60戶單位，再加入特色發展。市建局主席張震遠表示，太子道西現在經營的花店商戶，他們的計劃希望商戶能繼續留下，因為現在的構思是保留花墟賣花特色，而上海街這個項目，以往有不少出名的大眾食肆，公眾可以想想是否用地道飲食文化為主題。市建局年半後會展開收購安置，進行維修鞏固工程，預料2014至2015年完成。

Preserve or pay the price
17 September 2008
South China Morning Post

The Hong Kong government was taken aback by the passionate protests triggered earlier this year by the demolition of two iconic landmarks - the Central Star Ferry Pier and the adjacent Queen's Pier.

While few will argue these structures were "architectural gems", it was their historical value and the regard in which they were held by millions of commuters and tourists that used them that ensured the community loss was deeply felt.

Unfortunately, many iconic buildings have gone the same way and the architectural landscape that gives Hong Kong its flavour is under threat. Urban planners should proceed with caution.

A visit to the markets in Central and Wan Chai reveals nothing but bustle, a pointer to their popularity. Nobody will argue that the eight-storey tenement buildings around such markets are "architectural gems" and if this means they may suffer the same fate as the Central Star Ferry, will planners take into account that their destruction and expected redevelopment may terminally affect the markets?

Consider Soho, which mushroomed from seemingly nowhere on completion of the Mid-Levels escalator in the early 1990s. The lesson is that small tenement buildings may be rejuvenated to fit today's leisure needs and increasing their value for owners, investors and the government alike.

Visitors to Singapore cannot fail to be impressed with the way that many of the city's old shophouses have been transformed into bars, restaurants and boutiques.

Many of these structures are older than Hong Kong tenement buildings and were not built to stand the test of time or tropical climates. However, their value now monetarily and socially means their survival is secure and allows Singaporeans and tourists an opportunity to see a living museum of the city.

In London, despite the recent housing slump, nobody can argue that property prices in locations such as Camden Market, Greenwich and Notting Hill are far higher today than they were in the 1970s.

Why are these areas considered desirable and attracting buyers willing to pay top dollar for fairly average older housing? Why do tourists visit and what makes them hip and fashionable?

In Hong Kong, there are commendable examples - Lan Kwai Fong, Soho and even the embryonic Tsim Sha Tsui East, where older buildings are being reused, their use changed - and the districts are flourishing. They flourish because of the older buildings not despite them.

The government needs to realise that areas of historic and social value should be maintained for future generations. These historical locations should be renovated - not bulldozed for more gleaming towers.

Why is it so different when the government or quasi-governmental agencies are involved? Why is the focus on new, grandiose projects built on podiums and thus allowing no foot traffic?

For an example, visit the project dissecting Hanoi Road/Mody Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, or the plans for the Central and Wan Chai markets or the proposed 160-metre "viewing" tower above Victoria Prison.

It is our hope the government will stop looking at short-term revenue from land sales at sites where we have historic buildings and instead impose restrictions on developers' plans to refurbish the sites. I fear another public outcry at the soon to be completed Tsim Sha Tsui Marine Police Station when it is unveiled.

How to address the loss of government revenue from land sales?

Firstly, the loss of revenue from sales of individual plots will be outweighed eventually by increased rates to refurbished areas, which are now more valuable.

It will be interesting to see the rateable values of the Soho district 20 years ago compared with today. Again, the principle of short-term gain from a one-off land premium must be balanced by the longer-term value to the community and the effect these areas have on surrounding areas in terms of rents and property prices.

Secondly, there is the matter of the long overdue rezoning of industrial districts and subsequent sales and redevelopment.

Areas of Tsuen Wan, Lai Chi Kok and Cheung Sha Wan that are now low-cost commercial buildings can be rezoned to provide the housing or commercial needs of our city. There is no reason to have these ultra high-density districts other than to keep the relative higher value and land premium concentrated in these districts.

The people of Hong Kong have shown they are becoming more socially conscious, and are reassessing what are the true values of our heritage and our collective memories.

Simply listing individual buildings with "architectural merits" is myopia at best. It is time to think of communities, districts and our way of life other than simply the physical aspects of bricks, mortar and concrete. Policies must take into account conservation issues and the preservation of our heritage.

By imposing far stricter planning restrictions on renovation of heritage buildings it is true that the market will pay an initial lower premium for these sites in the short term.

Longer term, we should see increasing rateable value, rising property values and the subsequent social value in preserving these still vibrant areas. Surely this outweighs any short-term monetary gain for our already cash-rich government.

Are we not being selfish in cashing in now and asking the next generation to pay for it?

David Chan is an architect and a director of an international property consultancy

From news.gov.hk:
20 pre-war shophouses to be preserved (http://news.gov.hk/en/category/infrastructureandlogistics/080919/html/080919en06006.htm)

From news.gov.hk:
20 pre-war shophouses to be preserved (http://news.gov.hk/en/category/infrastructureandlogistics/080919/html/080919en06006.htm)

One of the renderings shows modernization more than preservation. The facade looks completely different!

Keep district flavour, say tenants
20 September 2008
South China Morning Post

Shop tenants and residents like the plan to preserve pre-war buildings in Yau Ma Tei, although there are worries that shophouses would lose their flavour if turned into restaurants.

Ms Tsui, who runs Prince Edward Road East's Kwan Kwan Garden florist shop, supports the plan so long as she can stay. "I have been in the flower business for over 20 years. I don't know where else I can go."

It was a good idea to keep florists together, she said, "because people come here for more choice".

A florist next door, Cheng Shui-mui, is also worried. "We've had a hard time paying about HK$60,000 for monthly rent. I hope they won't raise the rent."

She agreed with the plan to hand over the shops upstairs to the arts community. "This keeps the area in order, and can attract more visitors."

On Shanghai Street, one resident expressed hope that his family could be relocated to a better home. Gao Ke, 28, lives with his wife and son in a cramped 75 sq ft flat in one of the verandahs.

It is an illegal structure on the rooftop, the unit has no windows and no kitchen. On typhoon days, it floods. The last time he "dared not sleep. I was afraid the roof would collapse". He hoped the authority would relocate him to public housing.

Yau Tsim Mong district councillor Hui Tak-leung, however, has doubts about turning the Shanghai Street units into restaurants. The buildings are too dilapidated, he said, and large-scale renovation would ultimately alter their style and the historic flavour.

"It is the facades that are the most beautiful features. Tourists can simply look up in the street and take photos.

"The interior needs maintenance but not intensive use. Large scale renovation will drastically change the old flavour. It will also overload the units if turned into restaurants," Mr Hui said.

But if the authority is to start the project, the councillor suggests enhancing the surroundings to attract tourists. "They can pedestrianise the street, for example."

Historic sites earmarked for wine and creativity
16 October 2008
South China Morning Post

The wine trade and creative industries will be offered the chance to revitalise two historic sites - the Haw Par Mansion in Tai Hang and the former police quarters in Central where remains of one of the city's first schools have been discovered.

The mansion, retained when the Tiger Balm Garden - one of Hong Kong's first theme parks - was demolished for the Cheung Kong (Holdings) luxury property development, The Legend, could be adapted for uses associated with the wine trade, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said in his policy address.

He said the trade had been looking for a location for wine shops and wholesalers, storage, a museum, bars and restaurants and somewhere to stage auctions and wine appreciation classes and run a wine school.

While so far only non-profit organisations had been invited to revitalise historic buildings, some heritage sites were suitable for commercial use, he said. To test market and community reaction, the government planned to designate the mansion for commercial use.

The mansion, built in 1935 in the Chinese Renaissance style as a residence for Aw Boon Haw, founder of the Tiger Balm medicine business, is a grade II historic building. A government source said wine trading was just one of the potential uses for the mansion. Meanwhile, the former police quarters in Aberdeen Street where parts of the foundations of Central School have been unearthed, will be permanently withdrawn from sale for redevelopment and designated for educational and creative industry use. A government source said it had not been decided whether the quarters would be demolished.

As well as proposing the site be used by the creative industries, Mr Tsang announced the setting up of a creative industry office to co-ordinate the work of departments to develop relevant skills.

The office would "consider providing more effective support for our creative industries through integration of resources". It is expected to open next spring.

Lee Ho-yin, director of the University of Hong Kong's architectural conservation programme, worried that the Haw Par Mansion would become an exclusive place for wine-lovers. He said whichever company took it over should be asked to open it to the public at least once a week.

Dr Lee said turning the Central School site into a base for creative industries would protect it from dense development. But he urged the government not to demolish the quarters, built in the Bauhaus style.

Meanwhile, the government will help fund the private Hong Kong Maritime Museum's relocation to Pier 8 in Central, where a bigger display could be housed.

The museum's lease at Murray House in Stanley runs out in 2010.

24-site heritage tour for Wan Chai
Access to some buildings on trail uncertain
6 October 2008
South China Morning Post

The government has identified 24 spots to form a heritage trail that tells the story of old Wan Chai, although the fate of some of the buildings is still up in the air and they may eventually be closed off to the public.

There are also concerns that merely erecting information signs to create the trail, as the government has done in the past, does not go far enough.

The locations identified by the Old Wan Chai Revitalisation Initiatives Special Committee cover landmarks like the Blue House on Stone Nullah Lane and the old Wan Chai Market. Two privately owned mansions and the Sikh temple are also on the list. Not all sites are open to the public, however.

Nam Koo Terrace on Ship Street is owned by Hopewell Holdings, which has yet to decide whether to make it open to the public or keep it private.

No64 Kennedy Road may also end up off-limits to the public. The owner applied to allow for higher-density land use, but is facing objections from concern groups.

In addition, the fate of the Wan Chai Police Station is still up in the air. The government has said police would vacate the building, but it is unclear whether it will be preserved.

The Old Wan Chai Market, shophouses on Burrow Street and Mallory Street, and the Blue House have been designated for revitalisation, but when they will be ready is uncertain.

The convenor of the revitalising committee, Stephen Ng Kam-chun, said members were still studying the details to come up with a design for the heritage trail. The committee has suggested putting up signs and decorating two historic temples with special lights to improve the area at night.

Anthony Siu Kwok-kin, a research consultant to the committee, said the trail should take about two to three hours.

Professor Siu suggested starting the route in the east along Queen's Road East, zigzagging through the heart of old Wan Chai along Tai Yuen Street and Spring Garden Lane to end on Johnston Road. "But signs would not be enough to tell history. We need well-informed guides," he said.

Ho Pui-yin, a historian at Chinese University, also said a trail with signs about the buildings would not be enough to put them into proper context.

People on the fringes of society gravitated to Wan Chai in the 19th century, she said. "It was those who could not set foot in Sheung Wan and Central, like coolies working at the piers, that came to live on Queen's Road East."

Buildings such as the Blue House were examples of "primitive" housing. "People cramped in these small buildings. Balconies were narrow and lacked decoration.

"The drainage pipes exposed on the exterior walls are symbolic of the contemporary sewerage," Professor Ho said.

Spring Garden Lane was a red-light zone, said the historian, and there was an orphanage on the same street, run by nuns, to take care of abandoned babies.

Towards the west of the trail, Wo Cheong Pawn Shop and Nam Koo Terrace, with western-style facades and wider balconies, signalled the rise of the middle class by the turn of the century, she said.

"Wan Chai is an important part of modern Hong Kong identity. When the government says this is its first district-based conservation project, it should use the trail to show how society evolved."

Kowloon shophouses saved as part of preservation plan
Residents to be moved as buildings become galleries, cafes
20 September 2008
South China Morning Post

Two clusters of historic shophouses in West Kowloon are set to escape demolition - one group of buildings will be preserved for florists and artists, and the other will offer affordable dining in a bid to encourage people to visit the area.

The Urban Renewal Authority yesterday announced its largest heritage conservation plan, which covers 20 blocks of pre-war shophouses on Shanghai Street in Mong Kok and on Prince Edward Road East. No buildings will be torn down.

The project, costing HK$1.33 billion, is part of the authority's initiative to conserve 48 shophouses across Hong Kong.

One-tenth of the sum will be set aside for renovation, and the rest will be spent on acquiring the 73 property interests involved.

The shophouses, built in the 1920s and 1930s, share architectural features such as a long veranda linking the blocks, balconies and geometric patterns on the facade.

Shanghai Street's 10 shophouses have been occupied by shops on the ground floor and residents upstairs, typical of an old commercial street. They are Grade 1 historic buildings. The authority says it is open to any options for how they will be used, while its chairman, Barry Cheung Chun-yuen, suggested that cheap eating places could be a good idea.

The Wo Cheong Pawn Shop, a preservation project in Wan Chai that now houses an art gallery and serves gourmet food, has drawn criticism that it is too expensive a restaurant for most people.

The authority has learned a lesson. "We are concerned about criticisms of Wo Cheong Pawn Shop. This time, we hope the public will be able to enjoy using the verandas," Mr Cheung said.

The 180 residents would be relocated, Mr Cheung said, because of "appalling" living conditions. "Some flats have no toilets and there are no residential amenities. It is hard to turn them into residential use."

Four blocks built in 1960 will be altered to house lifts and fire escapes and offer disabled access.

The cluster on Prince Edward Road East, forming part of a flower market, will remain.

"We do not wish to disrupt the thriving flower trade there. We hope the seven flower shops can stay," Mr Cheung added.

These shophouses were built by a Belgian construction company. They were marketed as "modern homes" and targeted at middle-class buyers.

Mr Cheung said the authority would not set "unreasonable" rent levels that would chase the florists away. "We do not expect to recover our development costs at all. The rents will only be used to sustain future operations."

As for the shops upstairs, the authority plans to reserve them for the arts community, such as for bookstores and dance studios.

That project is expected to be completed by 2014, and the Shanghai Street project one year later.

The authority will consult the public about the plan in the coming months, after which it will submit a development plan to the Town Planning Board for approval.

Taoist NGO fears museum plan is doomed Heritage board questions project
16 October 2008
South China Morning Post

A Taoist group that has proposed turning a historic building on Ma Wan Island into a museum is dismayed at the possibility it may be withdrawn from the government's heritage revitalisation scheme.

The Yuen Yuen Elderly Centre believes its plan for the Fong Yuen Study Hall is feasible, and does not want to see its efforts wasted.

Its fears were raised after the chairman of the scheme's advisory committee, Bernard Chan, said the study hall would be "challenging" to revitalise because of its poor accessibility and small size.

He did not rule out the possibility that the committee would pull it out of the scheme.

The plan by the group - part of the Yuen Yuen Institute, a Taoist NGO - was the only one of eight proposals to be shortlisted, which meant it had a good chance of being successful.

The centre has proposed turning the ungraded study hall in Tin Liu Tsuen into a museum showcasing artefacts of the old fishing village on Ma Wan, located between Lantau and Tsing Yi.

The museum would run eco-tours, putting visitors on boat trips to see the fish rafts. At night, the museum would become a centre offering courses on Chinese culture - such as painting and calligraphy - for local residents.

"The study hall was once a traditional Chinese school. We suggested returning it to its original use," said Calvin Yip Wai-lam, who is in charge of the centre.

He said he believed Ma Wan's population of 10,163, including the Park Island residential development, would be a large enough source of nighttime users.

He said that the 140 square metre floor area was too small for such purposes, so the front yard would also be used.

The hall is one of the seven government-owned historic buildings designated for the Development Bureau's revitalisation scheme, which invites NGOs to participate.

The school, blending Chinese and European architectural characteristics, was built by villagers for their children between 1920 and 1930.

The government has suggested uses for the building that include a small library, study room and community building.

Mr Yip said his group would be disappointed if the building was withdrawn from the scheme.

"We've put in a lot of effort and resources on the application, approaching professionals to prepare the drawings and design. If the conditions do not qualify, the government shouldn't have included it in the first place."

He said that the present transport network, with ferries and rural buses linking Hong Kong Island and the New Territories, would be insufficient to attract visitors, and the museum would depend on the full opening of Ma Wan Park and its road-improvement works to bring people in.

He estimated that the museum would attract 10 per cent of the visitors to the theme park.

Developer Sun Hung Kai Properties has been building the theme park on the island. Some facilities, such as a nature garden, have already been opened.

Ma Wan Fisheries Rights Association vice-chairman Chan Sung-ip said eco-tourism would serve a good educational purpose.

"People can come fishing, or simply take a look at how we work."

The area had about 80 fishermen, he said, but he had yet to invite them to take part.

Expert calls for heritage branding
21 October 2008
South China Morning Post

An architectural conservationist who has attempted to modernise the image of a colonial monument in Central using images has proposed "heritage branding" to raise commercial potential of historic buildings.

Chan Yiu-hung, an architectural photographer and image-branding consultant for property developments, has taken photos of the Helena May building in Garden Road to package it like a modern hotel and increase its appeal.

Mr Chan, who is studying for a master's degree in architectural conservation at the University of Hong Kong, volunteered for the project along with 10 colleagues.

Their aim is to highlight the historic features of the building built in 1914, such as its balconies, wooden staircases, arched doors and bells.

"Good photos in a property sales brochure can boost sales. I guess it's the same theory for heritage," he said at the exhibition at the Helena May yesterday.

The Helena May was opened in 1916 by the wife of then governor Sir Henry May, to provide a refuge for women arriving in the colony alone.

"People think this is an English club where only ladies gather to play bridge, but it's actually a hidden treasure," manager Betty Simpson said.

The club, which had seen membership shrink to 500 has 800 members, and a new image would help raise income to support maintenance, she said. Maintenance costs have been high. Renovation of the bathroom and repair of the fire staircase respectively cost HK$3 million and HK$1 million last year, she said.

The club will revamp its website with the photos next month, and distribute photo booklets to visitors.

Lee Ho-yin, director of the architectural conservation programme at the Hong Kong University, said the government could consider applying the same branding strategy to its seven historic buildings designated for revitalisation by NGOs. "A proper branding, identifying the heritage's core values, can boost visitor numbers and in turn make the operation financially sustainable."

Treated like dirt
Hong Kong's soil reveals that it was much more than just a fishing village, but its archaeological heritage is threatened by official indifference
15 October 2008
South China Morning Post

Hong Kong is typically described as being no more than a small fishing village before five major clans settled in the New Territories during the Song dynasty about 900 years ago. But archaeologists now say it's probably far older and was a more prosperous community than is generally thought.

The problem is that relics offering clues about Hong Kong settlements that may date as far back as 6,000 years are in danger of being lost or destroyed because of insufficient government protection, they warn.

Surveys commissioned by the Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) in the 1980s and 90s found relics buried in 237 sites across the city. About 800,000 items - mostly stone artefacts and shards of pottery - were unearthed during test digs and excavation work over the years, but they have mostly remained in storage.

Many sites are "disappearing both legally and illegally", says archaeologist William Meacham, an honorary research fellow at the University of Hong Kong's Centre of Asian Studies.

Last year, the Hong Kong Archaeological Society found that Luk Keng Tsuen on Lantau, where some Tang dynasty kilns were found, had been turned into a barbecue area.

"They [archaeological sites] are a heritage treasure shared by all. If you destroy them they'll be gone forever," says society chairman Cheng Kai-ming.

About five years ago, Meacham was outraged to find several large village houses being built near the Pak Mong site on Lantau, a repository of pottery from the Western Han period.

According to the AMO, construction around Pak Mong and Luk Keng Tsuen is not on "major deposit areas" at the sites. But Meacham says the government should at least allow archaeologists to assess the site and its surroundings as more relics may be buried nearby.

"You never know - what looks like a minor site may turn into a major one when you start digging."

But the AMO says it does all it can to protect sites, often seeking funds from related government departments to conduct "rescue excavations" when developers begin building on an archaeological site. For instance, HK$6 million has been allocated for a dig at So Kwun Wat in Tuen Mun, where there are plans to build a school.

Yet other than that, the AMO leaves many important sites untouched. It says this is in line with the international practice of putting off digs until necessary because technological advances are likely to allow historians to retrieve more evidence than is possible with existing tools, which may destroy more than they reveal.

"Our principle is not to excavate the site if possible because a dig is an irreversible experiment. Some archaeology textbooks even call it a destructive process," says Kevin Sun Tak-wing, the AMO's archaeology curator.

Sun says that has been a global trend since the 70s as historical preservation is balanced against social and economic development. A regulation that came into force this year now requires heritage assessments to be made before any construction work is undertaken in Hong Kong. The developer or organisation behind any project must commission a licensed archaeologist for a study of the area and to make recommendations on a course of action.

Although archaeologists agree with the AMO's approach for new excavations, they say the government should launch a scheme to monitor conditions at known sites, which may be threatened by human activity.

Steven Ng Wai-hung, an archaeologist at an environmental management company, says that relics in Hong Kong extend beyond the 237 identified sites, but that many areas have been damaged because of a lack of government attention. "Shouldn't [heritage authorities] at least send staff to check on these sites once in a while {hellip} to make sure they're still intact," he says.

Ng says the government could set up museums or archaeological parks to preserve major sites and attract tourists. It's not an issue of money but of how conscious people are about protecting their heritage, he says, citing how prosperous villages in the Pearl River Delta set up display centres when historical sites are uncovered during construction projects.

By contrast, Ng points to inaction in Hong Kong following a dig at Ma Wan in 1997 that uncovered 20 graves with cultural relics dating back to the late neolithic and early bronze ages.

"The excavation at Ma Wan was voted one of China's 10 major archaeological discoveries that year by mainland experts," he says. "Shouldn't the government consider preserving the site or building a museum there? If they did so, Hong Kong would have one more tourist attraction. But they decided just to dig everything out and put the relics in storage."

Liu Mao, a researcher at the Hong Kong Institute of Archaeology, says the government has done more to preserve cultural heritage as public concern about such issues has grown in recent years, particularly following the demolition of the Star Ferry Pier. "But efforts are mostly concentrated on historic buildings and there's no mention of archaeology," she says.

Ng, who stumbled upon a site at Wong Tei Tung, in Sai Kung, during a hike in 2003, says a dig uncovered about 3,000 stone artefacts dating back more than 4,000 years. They found evidence that early settlers were quarrying stone for export. Meacham reckons the relics are between 5,000 and 7,000 years old, but some experts estimate they could date back 20,000 to 30,000 years.

"If that's true, it would be hugely important in world archaeology," says Meacham, adding that further investigation is needed to determine the age of the site.

"Even if my estimate is correct, it is still a very important site. You don't have many of those around the world because it's a huge effort to quarry stone and [settlers] were obviously exporting and trading it."

Indeed, experts say Hong Kong has a richer history than most people realise. It was well known as one of China's 26 salt-making centres during the Song dynasty, but the discovery of a number of ancient kilns across the New Territories has also led Ng to conclude that Hong Kong had a flourishing lime-making industry during the Tang dynasty.

Early coastal settlers were also found to have made notched quartz rings for export to the mainland as ornaments, suggesting that Hong Kong was a significant production and trading centre some 4,000 years ago, he says. "For geographical reasons Hong Kong had become a port, a way station and a stop along the sea route to Southeast Asia. Many different people visited and stayed here, and as a result many artefacts were left behind," he says.

Liu urges the government to make better use of its excavated relics instead of leaving them in storage. The artefacts should be properly studied and displayed in exhibitions to educate the public about the city's history, she says.

"People should know that Hong Kong was more than a fishing village. This is particularly important for the younger generation. The older generation who came from the mainland generally don't think about the history of Hong Kong, but these young people were born and raised here. They should have more respect for their history."

Comparison : old and renovated buildings in Kowloon

http://www.hk-place.com/pic.php?src=p263002

Historic preservation is not always about buildings, it is also about culture as well. The two will likely intertwine.

灣仔靈異遊 認識舊社區 街坊當導遊 借鬼故推保育
10月23日 星期四 05:05

【明報專訊】下周五便是萬聖節。近年香港人過萬聖節，總愛到主題公園排長龍，靠化妝演員喊破喉嚨嚇自己。但原來要聽靈異故事，走入社區也可以。多名灣仔老街坊從歷史檔案及長者口述相傳，選出該區八大「靈異景點」，由街坊充當導遊，帶領團友入夜出發，沿途「鬼話連篇」，只望有心人認識區內文化歷史。究竟摸黑遊歷要注意什麼？導遊黃秀屏微笑中帶半分認真︰「記緊數齊人數啊！」弄得記者也突然有點「毛管戙」！

舊街市傳說「賣人肉」

「許多人或許已聽過區內鬼古，但聽還聽，始終不及親身遊一趟過癮！」40多歲的秀屏一語道破參觀人士的心態。她身形嬌小，身上沒配襯奇裝異服，簡單手執一本灣仔資料集便帶記者出發，首站是結業不久的灣仔街市後門。

秀屏指着鏽迹斑斑的鏡子說︰「40年代灣仔淪陷，街道鮮見行人，街市旁邊的防空洞是日佔時期街坊的逃亡避難所，許多人不幸被炸死，會被日本仔拖到街市地牢存放，更恐怖的，就是被人割去大髀肉出售，『吃大髀肉』的傳說當時十分流行，亦不時傳出有人在附近見鬼，所以有人在後門放了一道桃木劍和鏡子來辟邪。」她慨嘆灣仔街市不久將會改建成一幢46層高住宅時，不禁大呼「很異相」。

遊南固臺同濟中學聽鬼古

天色漸漸轉暗，跟着秀屏腳踏昏暗小路，無論是荒廢已久船街南固臺、同濟中學，或是高尚住宅區星街附近的八公廟，她都能把背後的鬼古及歷史資料娓娓道出。別以為秀屏是文化研究學者，她只是一名平凡家庭主婦，看見子女長大便騰出時間做喜歡的事。她說﹕「灣仔是個很可愛的地方，但近年發展急促，在重建過程中，是否有些重要特色被拆掉了？我希望人們可多了解這區可愛之處。」

為設計行程，她和幾位街坊四出訪問老街坊、小販及鄰居等，並到圖書館找資料，花了數周選出8個必遊地點。該「鬼古團」已舉辦了3、4年，參加者包括中學生、教師、外籍人士及一家大細等等，每次帶團數目不超過20人。

「我經常提醒團友，參觀時要保持安靜，因為這是善意參觀，晚間遊覽必須互相留神以防走失，無宗教信仰的，經過廟宇時不要大驚小怪。」秀屏說，今年趁萬聖節快到，活動特別名為「黑暝暝好『鬼』徑—靈異傳說遊」，由聖雅各福群會及灣仔民間生活館舉辦，暫得一團，明晚8時至10時出發，由於反應熱烈，名額早於本月初爆滿。不過秀屏表示，若閣下「湊夠」十人，也可致電聯絡，若時間許可，可以加團。

「灣仔靈異傳說遊」報名方法

只要湊夠至少10名朋友，便可獨立包團，詳情可向灣仔民間生活館查詢。

價錢︰每位58元

電話︰2835 4376

明報記者 彭碧珊

Opinion : Don't destroy unique qualities that make SoHo so special
26 October 2008
South China Morning Post

The H19 proposal, the Staunton Street/Wing Lee Street Urban Renewal Authority project, will destroy what is uniquely Hong Kong. The vibrant neighbourhoods may soon be replaced by just another tall building. This does not have to happen.

Years ago, I lived in the historic neighbourhoods of New Orleans. The dying warehouse district was transformed into thriving neighbourhoods of apartments, art galleries, shops and restaurants. This was not done by replacing the warehouses with new buildings but by recycling existing buildings and renovating them inside and out. The special characteristics of neighbourhoods that make each city unique were maintained. There is evidence this is happening in the SoHo area, with new stores, bars and restaurants opening every year.

Consider the impact of changing the population dynamics. The vertical increase of population density will reduce traffic to a standstill. There is very little space on the pavements and pedestrians sometimes have to walk on the road. Unless these streets are widened with the increase in population density, the congestion that will follow development will cause unintended consequences that cannot be solved after the density is changed.

This kind of urban renewal carries a high cost to existing communities and in many cases results in the destruction of vibrant neighbourhoods. This type of urban renewal is a regressive mechanism for enriching the wealthy at the expense of taxpayers and the poor. What happens to the people who cannot be relocated or those who have lived in that area their entire lives?

Areas like SoHo can be preserved by enacting preservation laws, making it historic as it reflects certain characteristics that are unique to the city. If the stretch of Hollywood Road between Central and Mid-Levels were designated a historic area, this would increase awareness of Hong Kong's uniqueness, boost tourism and raise tax revenue. Imagine a Hong Kong without Lan Kwai Fong, but instead high-rise apartments, or going to The Peak and not being able to see the harbour because of tall buildings. Before we know it Hong Kong will turn into just high-rises.

K. B. Elliget, SoHo

Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower Restoration (11/2)

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2008/1102/IMG_3560.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2008/1102/IMG_3551.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2008/1102/IMG_3559.jpg

關公廁藍屋居民解決難
04/11/2008
http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/img/endmarker.gif

http://orientaldaily.on.cc/photo/20081104/new/1104nhko12b1.jpg

【本報訊】政府去年推出活化灣仔藍屋計劃，雖然表明「留屋又留人」，但留下來的藍屋居民卻要為解決基本的生理需要而煩惱。由於藍屋屬舊式唐樓，單位內沒有廁所，居民一直使用灣仔舊街市內的二十四小時公廁「解決」，但隨尠舊街市上月關閉，新街市的公廁又於每晚八時後關門，居民晚上「人有三急」，再難找到解手的地方。

最近公廁要行五分鐘
退休人士劉先生住於藍屋逾三十年，三代同堂。他表示，雖然交加街公廁二十四小時開放，但該公廁距離藍屋甚遠，路程達五分鐘，難解居民之急，因此自灣仔舊街市的公廁停用後，屋內長者索性在廚房水渠小解，「如果大解就用膠袋，之後當普通垃圾扔走。」

發展局發言人回應，上月中已知悉舊街市廁所關閉後，藍屋居民大為不便，當時已安排交加街公廁二十四小時開放。

Former Marine Police HQ - 11/02

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2008/1102/IMG_3547.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2008/1102/IMG_3548.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2008/1102/IMG_3549.jpg

Gov't Press Release:
Green Island lighthouse compound declared a monument (with photos) (http://info.gov.hk/gia/general/200811/07/P200811070082.htm)

Link from the Gazette (http://www.gld.gov.hk/cgi-bin/gld/egazette/gazettefiles.cgi?lang=e&year=2008&month=11&day=7&vol=12&no=45&gn=241&header=1&acurrentpage=12&df=1&nt=s2&agree=1&gaz_type=ls2&part=1&newfile=1&pid=)

^
http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/200811/07/P200811070082_photo_415322.JPG

A bit of a waste this place used to be a rehabilitation centre ... being so close to the city.

Explorer rallies to defense of long forgotten battery
12 November 2008
Hong Kong Standard

Better conservation is needed to save a decaying bastion of Hong Kong's history, according to the city's foremost woman explorer and environmentalist.

Rebecca Lee Lok-sze, honorary advisor at the Institute for Vocational Education, has called on the government to refurbish the long neglected turn-of-the- century Pinewood Battery and military barracks in Lung Fu Shan Country Park.

The 47-hectare site is in the north of Pok Fu Lam Country Park and forms Hong Kong's newest and smallest country park.

``There is the modern side of Hong Kong with its shopping and cuisine but there is also the historical side that deserves equal promotion,'' said Liela Thandani, a third-year student of Lee's.

Built in 1903, the battery is the city's highest coastal defense platform and kept watch over the western approaches of Victoria Harbour until the 1920s when it was refitted for anti-aircraft defense before seeing fierce action during World War II.

Only a few underground tunnels and the barracks' foundations remain, unkempt and vandalized. ``According to my research on the mainland, there is a huge demand for Western historical sites in China. There is nowhere in China where you can see this because they have largely been destroyed,'' Lee said.

In developing the site into an attraction with either exhibits and placards, a miniature mock-up or full restoration, Lee said the British, Japanese and mainland governments should also take an interest due to their shared heritage with the site.

Planning to make the former military site the main feature in a planned tourism trail that will give visitors a dose of colonial history, bird watching and fauna tourism, Lee and her Polar-Eco-Cultural Tourism Resource Centre class sent submissions to the Hong Kong Tourism Board in July.

The area is also home to the spectacular Lugard Waterfall, which Lee's group also wants showcased.

Last month the Hong Kong Tourism Board introduced a complimentary Pinewood Battery Walk for visitors under its Nature Kaleidoscope program, which offers guides who are experts in Hong Kong's wartime history.

``The board will continue to review the situation and other proposed developments along the path, taking into account feedback from visitors and travel trade,'' a board spokeswoman said.

The class proposes a trail beginning with Hong Kong University's colonial buildings, then the Environmental Protection Department's Lung Fu Shan Environmental Education Centre followed by the classical colonial architecture of Stone House on Kotewall Road.

Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower Restoration (11/13)

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2008/1113/IMG_3760.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2008/1113/IMG_3778.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2008/1113/IMG_3784.jpg

Wan Chai journey to reveal darkest secrets in English
18 November 2008
Hong Kong Standard

Expatriates will have a taste of historic Wan Chai on Sunday as the first English- guided tour of the district makes its long- awaited public debut.

A Journey into old Wan Chai aims to open the eyes and senses of those who want to know more about Hong Kong history, said Sylvia Midgett, a guide for the Wan Chai Livelihood Place project.

Students from the French International School were among those lucky enough to experience the inaugural schools tour.

The journey included walking up rickety wooden staircases of historic flats at Stone Nullah Lane, journeying through Spring Garden Lane _ an old prostitution hotspot _ and touching the original stone sign on the famous Woo Cheong Pawn Shop.

The Wan Chai Livelihood Place project is an offshoot of the St James' Settlement. It was started by a handful of enthusiasts who either lived in the area or who felt a strong attachment to the district. Tours in Chinese have always been available and are quite popular among residents of Wan Chai district.

The tours are sometimes adjusted according to suggestions from participants _ mainly friendly Wan Chai residents who have some of their own experiences to share.

Midgett, the first and so far only English-speaking tour guide in the project, said many people who live in Wan Chai or who pass through the area regularly are often unaware of the wonderful sights and sounds Wan Chai has to offer.

She grew up in a more secluded and upscale area of Wan Chai and rarely ventured down to where the ``action'' was during her younger days.

It was only when she began working in the area that she discovered all its attractions, she said.

So Midgett decided to dedicate herself to the promotion of her old neighborhood.

``There are so many interesting aspects to Wan Chai,'' said Midgett, adding she plans to educate all tour participants about them.

The English language tours cost HK$150.

In another heritage development, experts from Hong Kong, Macau and Australia are meeting in the city for three days this week to exchange information on heritage preservation and management.

``The Australian Government is very supportive of such cooperation in promoting cultural heritage,'' Consul- General Les Luck said.

Vinod Daniel, chairman of Australian network AusHeritage, said: ``A strategic partnership between Australian, Hong Kong and Macau heritage managers could better tackle the enormous challenges of heritage preservation.''

This may include ``the careful adaptation or adaptive reuse of some heritage places in our respective environments,'' Luck said.

Celebrating Graham Street before it changes
16 November 2008
South China Morning Post

A street festival featuring arts performances and cultural tours opened yesterday near the hip area of SoHo in Central, aimed at drumming up support for the preservation of a historic market and its neighbourhood.

The Graham Street Market Festival, organised by the Central and Western Concern Group, is intended to raise public awareness on the redevelopment plans for the area.

John Batten, convenor of the conservationist group, hoped that with increased awareness would come greater pressure on the government to make concessions in its redevelopment plans.

Conservationist groups have long been battling the Urban Renewal Authority over its plans to redevelop the 160-year-old Graham Street open market. The group has urged town planners to rezone the area as a market street to preserve its vibrant and historic bazaar. Mr Batten said that although the Town Planning Board had already approved the authority's redevelopment plans last year and the authority had made some changes to include a market area, he hoped that increased public pressure would ensure that the new buildings would not be high rise.

The group had earlier suggested a 12-storey height limit.

Mr Batten said that the group already had more than 12,000 letters of support. "Realistically, things will only change if the government interferes," he said. "This is an ongoing campaign and we hope to force the change."

The festival, which is in its second year, opened at 3pm yesterday at Gage Street with the distribution of a map of Graham Street market to the public. It was followed by a forum featuring discussions involving architects, planners and activists on urban planning and renewal. A short film about the market stallholders called Graham Darlings was shown.

The festival also featured magicians, acrobats, performances by students from the University of Hong Kong, a flea market and cultural tours.

A flea market at the Hoi Wan Cafe on Gage Street will open at 2pm today and a guided cultural tour, which requires pre-registration, will occur this afternoon. The festival ends on Saturday.

士丹頓街優化新設計 增休憩空間
中環保育擬調整發展密度
23/11/2008

【本報訊】市區重建局下周一將公布中環士丹頓街/永利街優化後的新設計，將進一步改善項目內的綠化空間布局及保存項目內的街道氛圍。由於近期多個住宅發展項目均降低了發展密度及樓宇高度，市建局正考慮相應調整該項目的發展密度，配合社會的訴求。

市建局下周一將召開董事會，討論士丹頓街/永利街的新設計，再交城市規劃委員會討論。該重建地盤面積二千七百平方米，涉及廿四幢樓宇，發展成本逾十億元。

涉多幢歷史建築
鑑於重建範圍有多幢歷史建築，包括前身為國父孫中山先生受洗臈會舊址的必列者士街街市大樓、永利街唐樓前的「臺」及城皇街舊石級等，市建局決定全部保留，而街市大廈將闢建為紀念孫中山的「小博物館」，擺放與孫中山有關物品展覽。

據了解，由於該項目的地積比率達八倍，當中更包括兩幢樓高廿五層大廈，引起鄰近居民及保育團體的關注，市建局正考慮調整有關的發展密度，增加休憩空間的面積，並會研究調整大廈的擺位，減少對鄰近居民的影響。

士丹頓街/永利街是市建局出價最高收購的物業，收購價每呎近萬元，但至今只收到三成多的業權，市建局期望改動有關設計後，有助進行收購。

另外，因應金融海嘯，政府要求市建局加快進行樓宇維修計劃，市建局下周一的董事會會研究加碼進行樓宇維修計劃，包括在現有的物料資助上，再增加現金資助，供業主應付維修開支。

立法會議員陳淑莊要求市建局削減士丹頓街/永利街的發展密度，不應興建二十多層高的住宅，增加鄰近交通負荷，加上鄰近地區多舊樓，打樁工程可能會影響鄰近居民。她希望市建局可以進行仔細工程影響評估才施工。 http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/img/endmarker.gif

市建局平租開舖搞活重建區
24/11/2008

http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20081124/img/sn08112406_big.jpg

【本報訊】中環嘉咸街/卑利街重建項目進入收購階段，市區重建局不希望重建區成為死城，以象徵式租金出租吉舖予非牟利團體舉辦活動，維持區內活力，其中卑利街八號便租予香港建築中心，擺放展覽介紹中環的建築物及其背後的人和事，以及舉辦中上環建築導賞團等。

專人導賞中上環建築
建築中心主席吳家賢接受本報訪問時稱，該中心成立了兩年，借用建築師學會地方辦公，辦過電車建築之旅及其他活動，大受歡迎，同時亦一直尋覓適當地點，適逢市建局有活化計劃，雙方一拍即合。

卑利街八號原為粥店，面積約六百平方呎，現正火速裝修中，將於十二月五日開幕。吳家賢稱配合中環的獨特歷史氛圍，該中心頭炮節目是擺放展覽，介紹百多年來中環建築物的演變過程及其背後的故事，又會邀請香港歷史博物館前總館長丁新豹帶領中上環建築導賞團。吳家賢預期，若建築中心得到社會認同，下一步可以發展至博物館規模，另一個做法則是巡迴到不同區域開設地舖，英國的建築中心便以這個模式運作。

市建局表示，除了建築中心以外，還有三間社會福利機構陸續在嘉咸街/卑利街重建項目內開舖，售賣家庭用品、文具及二手傢俬等。http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/img/endmarker.gif

History triumphs as Central plan is cut down to size
Hong Kong Standard
Tuesday, November 25, 2008

http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20081125/img/sn06112508_big.jpg

http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20081125/img/sn06112502_big.jpg

http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20081125/img/sn06112509_big.jpg

The Urban Renewal Authority is to slash almost in half its redevelopment plans for Central's Staunton Street area to preserve historic streetscapes and reduce building density.

The revised project - 44 percent smaller than originally planned - will result in losses of HK$170 million, because of the drastic drop in the number of residential units from 216 to 130.

The gross floor area under the revised plan will be 11,600 square meters.

This means the plot ratio will be reduced to no more than 4.5, which is 44 percent lower than the allowed plot ratio of eight.

It is the fourth major construction project in a week to have its size and building density reduced

Last Tuesday, a government source disclosed that the development projects at the MTR's Yuen Long and Nam Cheong stations are to be cut by about a sixth to improve air ventilation and reduce building density in the areas.

A day later, Hopewell Holdings announced its plan to cut the size of its long-proposed Wan Chai Mega Tower by a third in height, and the capacity of a planned hotel by half.

URA chairman Barry Cheung Chun- yuen said yesterday the decision was designed to tie in with the government's policy on revitalizing the former Police Married Quarters site on Hollywood Road.

Major changes to the blueprint include scaling back the building plan of a 24-story high-rise on Wing Lee Street to six floors and preserving five post-war tenement buildings - three on Wing Lee Street and two on Staunton Street.

The authority also aims to preserve a 100-year-old Victorian-style protection wall which is on a lane behind Wing Lee Street.

"It [the quarters] is only a stone's throw from the URA project.

"Therefore, we propose to epitomize the design option to manifest the street ambience and the heritage significance of the locality, visually connecting the two sites and generating a full synergy effect," Cheung said.

The new plan will be submitted to the Town Planning Board for approval in the middle of next year.

But Cheung said a total of nine post- tenement buildings will have to be demolished as it would not be cost-effective to keep those buildings, which he said were dilapidated and did not carry significant heritage value.

The chairman admitted the authority would have made a profit of more than HK$100 million had it not trimmed the size of the redevelopment.

Under the revised plan, the authority will incur a loss as it has offered to acquire old buildings in the district for nearly HK$9,986 per square foot during the property peak early this year.

Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the government would support any plan which could serve the public interest best even if it incurred financial losses.

Yau Ma Tei sites to be discussed
25 November 2008
South China Morning Post

The Antiquities Advisory Board will discuss tomorrow how to preserve two historic sites in Yau Ma Tei after a government proposal to turn the sites into a Cantonese opera venue.

A heritage impact assessment study confirmed the Yaumatei Theatre to be the only surviving pre-war cinema and Red Brick House to be the city's oldest waterworks building. Transformation of the neighbouring buildings is part of the government's plan to revive Yau Ma Tei and preserve Cantonese opera.

The board will discuss the assessment study, which identified the significance of the two buildings and designed measures to safeguard them during their conversion.

The study suggested installing an on-site structural monitoring system to ensure the buildings' integrity. Original architectural features, including the arch and walls of the stage, would be preserved. New installations should be concealed.

More protection for grade-one buildings
27 November 2008
South China Morning Post

Grade-one historic buildings can be given monument status under revisions to the heritage grading system after a mansion in Mid-Levels was defaced before it was declared a monument.

When buildings are under threat of demolition, the government will declare them proposed monuments to allow for more time to negotiate with owners, heritage advisers were told yesterday.

"We have learned a lesson from King Yin Lei, whose protection was done in such a rush," Janet Wong Wing-chen, deputy secretary for development, said at the Antiquities Advisory Board meeting.

The King Yin Lei mansion on Stubbs Road, previously ungraded, was hastily declared a proposed monument last year after extensive media coverage of its defacement. It was formally declared a monument in July this year.

Graded historic buildings now are usually not protected by law and have no formal channel to apply for monument status. There was also confusion over the division of responsibilities between departments on the buildings' preservation.

Under the new framework, board members will be asked to consider the heritage significance of a building, along with existing criteria including the collective memory of it.

If officials assess that a grade-one building rates highly in historical or archaeological significance, they may declare it a monument, an Antiquities and Monuments Office spokesman said.

Duties of government departments will also be clarified to include responsibilities such as seeking the owners' consent to preserve the buildings and working out any compensation.

The revisions will take effect early next year when the government completes its heritage assessment of 1,140 historic buildings, both graded and ungraded. At present, there are 114 grade-one buildings.

Board members Ng Cho-nam and Bernard Lim Wan-fung approve of the new measures, which will clear the confusion of responsibilities between the board and the government that arose during the controversies surrounding the Star Ferry Pier, Queen's Pier and King Yin Lei.

But Dr Ng also asked if the grading system would be extended to protect heritage clusters apart from individual buildings, such as walled villages in the northern New Territories.

The spokesman said the grading system did not cover heritage clusters, and that town planning procedures may offer protection.

Gov't Press Release:
Linkage established between monument declaration and historic buildings grading system (http://info.gov.hk/gia/general/200811/26/P200811260307.htm)

Opinion : URA cannot serve the public interest as a real estate business
28 November 2008
South China Morning Post

The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has made it perfectly clear that its motives have never been about "ending urban decay" as it states.

As it has begun to bring to light, it is apologising to the public for the losses its [revised] Staunton Street plans will generate ("Staunton Street project scaled down", November 25).

It is and always has been a for-profit organisation.

It serves the interests of the developers it represents and destroys neighborhoods in its wake.

It should never have been in the real estate business to begin with.

It is not what the people the URA represents wanted it to do.

What the people of Hong Kong want and deserve is a government that sets the rules for development with zoning and safety requirements but does not get its hands dirty in the actual development process.

Even with the scaled-back version for Staunton Street, the plan is flawed.

It is an attempt to fix something that is not working and minimise the damage.

Unfortunately, the only way to save this area is to remove the URA completely from the equation and allow private developers to continue the process of development that they have begun. The URA should refocus its efforts on the less glamorous areas which really need its help.

It needs to do what governments do, set the rules, not seek profit at the expense of the public interest.

It is not too late to stop the URA plans for Staunton Street.

It needs to hear from more people about how they feel about what the URA is doing.

Ultimately, we need the government to recognise that any system that relies on an organisation like the URA will not work.

I hope we have that kind of enlightened government but I have not seen any evidence of this yet.

Dare Koslow, Central

Preservation lacks long-term vision
26 November 2008
South China Morning Post

The Hong Kong Institute of Architects Heritage & Conservation Committee chairman Edward Leung says that although the preservation in Wan Chai has captured some of the district's most significant architecture, the planning lacks long-term assessment.

Wo Cheong Pawn Shop at 66 Johnston Road, 18 Ship Street and the three tenement houses left after the demolition of Lee Tung Shop are all pre-war shophouses, or tong lau.

The government introduced a building and public health ordinance in 1898 which defined all the buildings including tong lau. In 1903 the government introduced a maximum height per storey of 9 feet, with a four storey limit. But the ordinance changed in 1964, so no tong lau were built from then on.

"I think the Urban Renewal Authority has done a good job in preserving tong lau. But, as a heritage conservation project, we need to think about whether it is more important to save the buildings or to save the social fabric which keeps society together. I think we are at a juncture where it's not just about conserving or developing new buildings; we have to think about what we would like our society to be like in the future," Mr Leung said.

Wo Cheong Pawn Shop was built in the late 1800's, while 18 Ship Street and three tenement houses were built in the 1930s. "Tong lau have a lot of architectural characteristics which reflect how the middle class - the majority of the society then - lived during the post-war period," Mr Leung said.

Architectural features such as concrete railings, and external renderings, using Shanghai plaster, involved exquisite craftsmanship and were expensive to do at the time.

URA district development director Stephen Lam Wai-nang said: "When it came to preserving these shophouses we tried to make sure that the most important features would be restored and that the buildings would be used in a number of ways."

He said that the new development in Johnston Road helped the conservation of both buildings and made them safe for public use. For example, the URA needed to install a sprinkler system and emergency generator, and provide hose reels and a fire alarm in Wo Cheong Pawn Shop, but it was impossible to fit these in the original building. So the system is now in the new development.

Mr Lam said the URA had carefully considered suitable tenants for the restored buildings.

"While making the buildings versatile enough for different tenants, we didn't think it was appropriate if we had a tenant that sells mobile phones in the Wo Cheong Pawn Shop," Mr Lam said.

"What the tenants [in these buildings] offer has to fit in with the essence of these buildings."

Consultant hints at U-turn over prison hall
27 November 2008
South China Morning Post

A Central Police Station compound prison hall said to have heritage significance might have to be torn down for new buildings, a conservation consultant for the Jockey Club hinted yesterday.

In the club's paper submitted to the Antiquities Advisory Board this week, its conservation consultant agreed that the F Hall at Victoria Prison has social significance and it may be desirable to keep the building's exterior. But at the meeting yesterday, the consultant said there was "a change of view" about the hall.

"If there are advantages to losing the F Hall, it is a price worth paying," said Michael Morrison, of Purcell Miller Tritton, a British conservation architecture firm.

Sacrificing the F Hall could mean keeping the adjacent prison yard an open space and reducing the height of any new building, the consultant said.

The F Hall has been classified as a non-historic building by the government, which said it had been extensively altered.

But district councillors and conservation groups say the hall, being the entrance and exit for prisoners and their visitors, and once a detention place for Vietnamese refugees, has great social significance and is part of Hongkongers' collective memory.

Antiquities Advisory Board member Bernard Lim Wan-fung said he was surprised the Jockey Club had had such a change of view. "How could they have changed their minds within just a few days?" he asked. He supported preserving the hall's exterior, saying it had architectural as well as heritage merit.

Ng Cho-nam, another board member, said the Jockey Club should keep listening to views of community groups on whether to keep the hall to prevent another public outrage.

Apart from the F Hall, Mr Morrison recommended preserving another prison hall to demonstrate the prison experience, while altering the other two for revitalisation. The cells were too small to be converted for other uses, he said.

A museum on the entire site would not be desirable, he continued, saying a police museum was often dull.

The Jockey Club, which will undertake to conserve the monument site and put in cultural facilities, scrapped its plan for a 160-metre observation deck last year after public pressure. It will have a revised conservation and revitalisation proposal by the middle of next year.

灣仔鬼屋重生 考活化智慧; 獅城經驗 古跡延續又增值
1 December 2008
香港經濟日報

在短短一星期內，繼合和（00054）Mega Tower項目後，港府又接連宣布大力削減士丹頓街的物業發展密度，即使轉盈為虧也在所不計，高舉保育旗幟，而活化「灣仔鬼屋」南固臺更加被外界指是增加發展商與政府談判的籌碼。

其實保育及活化歷史建築成為全球大氣候，但本港先後發生皇后碼頭拆卸和景賢里遭「毀容」的「慘劇」，特區政府更被批評保育政策僵化落後。

當特區政府「忽然保育」，以保護古跡聞名的競爭對手新加坡已「進化」為活化社區舊建築，把舊小學變身成為至潮的精品酒店，古跡更為建築物豪宅增值，賣個滿堂紅，不但為社區帶來活力，還創造了就業及經濟效益，是本港保育及活化古跡的示範作。

減低發展密度、活化舊區已成社會的大趨勢，為回應訴求市區重建局上周一宣布大減上環士丹頓街/永利街重建項目的發展規模，並保留、活化5幢戰前唐樓及國父孫中山曾居住的遺址，不惜蝕本1.7億。

在一星期內，政府接連公布大幅度降低已完成規劃的物業發展密度，背後的舊區保育及活化是一大契機。

百年南固臺古跡 沉寂半世紀

俗稱「灣仔鬼屋」的南固臺，揉合中西風格，是一級歷史建築，最初由富商杜仲文投資興建，於1918年建成，後轉售時為永安百貨公司副司理的胞弟杜澤文，1945年他被發現斃命於大宅內，自此丟空。到20年前才被合和以1,600萬元成功收購業權。四周林蔭密布的環境多年未變，至今遊人仍可依稀窺見建築昔日面貌。

南固臺雖獲發展商保留，但因為Mega Tower計劃一直懸而未決而繼續丟空，直至合和董事總經理胡文新上月19日公布修訂方案，承諾會重新裝修及活化南固臺，並會開放予公眾，外界盛傳此舉為增加發展商與政府談判的籌碼。

陳淑莊抨機制差 犧牲古建築

立法會議員陳淑莊認為，政府向私人業權提出交換條件，確能增加業主保留私有舊建築的誘因，如早前以半山司徒拔道一幅土地，交換附近景賢里業權便屬一例，惟以地換地牽涉位置和地價等問題，長遠而言可藉免收差餉或地租，為保育古跡另闢蹊徑。

雖然政府有此一著，陳淑莊仍認為現行建築保育政策欠清晰，「如政府以甚麼原則，去吸引業主交換舊建築業權，整個過程我們也不知道，就像逐單逐單去傾。」再者即使歷史評級的古跡，若不是「法定古跡」，現時也無法例規定不能拆卸，「起碼你要有一個機制，你grade（評級）了的，令政府可以守到監察呢個門口。」

特區政府在保育舊建築的範疇上被批評存在很多問題，令到不少舊建築物的「生命」未能延續。

外牆髹漆 變靚卻無歷史味道

如景賢里業主出售物業前曾聯絡政府，惟未獲回覆，最後才發生新業主改建，裝修極速破壞園內建築的「慘劇」。而自稱九龍皇帝的曾灶財，其位於九龍灣的「墨寶」近來遭民政事務處用油漆蓋過，揭露當局的所謂「保護」僅為拍照存檔，反映政府對古跡的保育意識薄弱。

「很多時古跡只留軀殼，沒其靈魂。」陳淑莊指，就算物件完好保留，也不代表昔日神韻能夠承傳，如荔枝角道雷生春翻新後，往日殘舊外牆早已髹過新漆，「他們以為將它油得白雪雪，便叫做靚、叫做新，但是『舊』才是它的味道。」政府對古跡的定義狹隘，態度僵化，無法充分發揮保留舊建築的作用。

Land swap for historic mansion gets nod
Hong Kong Standard
Wednesday, December 03, 2008

The owner of King Yin Lei Mansion has been given an adjacent plot of land in exchange for surrendering the historic 71-year-old building in Mid-Levels and paying for its restoration.

"Beside paying full-market value premium for the land exchange ... the owner is required to carry out and fund the restoration work of King Yin Lei to the satisfaction of the Antiquities and Monuments Office," a Development Bureau spokeswoman said yesterday.

The land exchange, approved by the Executive Council, will see the mansion and its plot on 45 Stubbs Road surrendered to the government for preservation and revitalization in return for a plot of 4,705.5 square meters, on which the owner can build five three-story residential homes.

Restoration work on the mansion - which was built in 1937 and has featured in several films and television series - will be supervised by Guangzhou University school of architecture and urban planning professor Tang Guohua.

Parts of its roof were damaged during four days of demolition starting on September 11, 2007, after ownership was passed to the current titleholder.

Restoration of the roof tiles is expected to be completed early next year, with the external walls and indoor decorations to be restored by 2010.

The government will also launch a public consultation on the building's future use and revitalization.

Conservancy Association campaign manager Peter Li Siu-man said the arrangement was satisfactory. A similar exchange has also been proposed for Hopewell's Mega Tower, now renamed Hopewell Center II, but Li said that land exchange arrangement was unlikely to reconcile community and developer aspirations because comparable sites for a proposed hotel were not available.

A Development Bureau spokeswoman said this was the first case - since the chief executive's 2007 policy address - where a private developer was satisfied by a government offer to facilitate the preservation of a privately held historic building. She added the development of the sparsely vegetated adjacent lot would not adversely affect traffic flow or impact the area's landscape, greenery or vista.

The Peak Area Outline Zoning Plan has been amended to rezone the site from residential to cultural, community and commercial uses, while the substituted land has been changed from greenbelt to residential, with the Town Planning Board's approval.

King Yin Lei, located above the Happy Valley racecourse, was declared a monument on July 11, 2008 after an emergency meeting 10 months earlier between the monuments' office and Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor following a public backlash after it was revealed parts of the building were being demolished.

舊區保育與發展
2 December 2008
星島日報

曾經有人認為，香港是文化沙漠，但是經過天星及皇后碼頭一役後，社區文化保育成為了香港市民的共識。事實上，這股民間聲音不但令政府檢討以往「拆卸為本」的重建策略，甚至「逼使」大型地產商「讓步」，主動降低建築樓宇的高度，不但順應了市民大眾的期望，更可體現出發展與保育並行的現代都市新概念。

市建局最近公布了中環士丹頓街一帶的重建方案，不但大幅度降低樓宇高度及地積比率，還保留了區內富特色的歷史文物，為社區加添文化氣息之餘，更可作為連接歷史的橋梁。除此之外，最近亦有地產商為配合社會實際情況，主動為延宕多年的灣仔合和中心二期提出新方案，削減樓層的數目，減輕屏風效應，同樣顯示出保育城市的社會責任。

雖然香港的面積不大，但歷史卻讓它成了英國殖民地。在這華洋共處的社區中，保留着許多歷史文物。其中士丹頓街的必列啫士街街市（左圖）不但是美國公理堂前身，更是國父孫中山先生曾居住及受洗的地方，而街道後方的維多利亞式石砌擋土牆（右圖），則是香港百年歷史的見證，屬於重要的歷史遺產。

雖然政府承諾在士丹頓街重建方案中，將上述兩者列作重點保育文物，但部分社會人士卻仍然認為方案有所不足，尤其當局表明只會保留三棟具歷史價值的唐樓，更引起中西區關注組的反對，認為政府急於清拆古舊建築物，根本不懂得保育之道。關注組發言人表示，低密度唐樓（左圖）不但是中西區的特色，更擁有不可代替的歷史意義，建議當局可進行唐樓翻新工程（右圖），保留士丹頓街一帶的社區原貌。

A little bit country
Yuen Long has retained many of its rural culinary traditions despite rapid urban growth
4 December 2008
South China Morning Post

In the northwest New Territories lie the alluvial plains of Yuen Long, once a self-contained agricultural centre used for growing rice and vegetables, and raising livestock. In the 1970s, the area's attraction as a market town was lost to mass urban development and a subsequent boom in population.

The district comprises six rural areas dotted with 154 villages. The busiest part of the township is off Castle Peak Road where the modern residential high-rises line Hong Lok, Tai Tong and Fung Lin roads. But despite these eyesores, low-rise establishments that hark back to more modest times are still scattered throughout the area.

This township might only be a speck on the map, but it's loaded with dining choices. There are more than 600 small to mid-size eateries in this area, from dai pai dong and family-run congee stores to dessert houses and restaurants.

The famed Tai Wing Wah Restaurant is the only restaurant in Yuen Long that offers rural wai tsuen choi (walled village cuisine) dishes. Unlike Hakka food, village cuisine relies on seafood and vegetables. In operation since 1998, the 450-seat restaurant is owned and operated by award-winning celebrity chef, Hugo Leung Man-to. The simple interior is littered with media clippings of the portly Leung, who weighs in at 127kg. His reputation means there's always a long queue for dinner.

"Value for money is the rule of the game," says Leung with a smile. "I don't sell expensive food, and our portions are large. My menu features 120 dishes, each costs only HK$52 and I change 20 menu items on a monthly basis based on freshness and seasonal picks.

"The cuisine requires intensive use of homemade sauces and careful preparation - this explains why we have 12 chefs. There is a sense of belonging at this restaurant. Whenever I'm here, I can usually be found socialising in the dining room."

The restaurant's signature dish is chicken in five flavours that requires the poultry to be soaked in virgin (first pressed) soya sauce for 15 minutes, before mixing it with Sichuan pepper, nutmeg, aniseed, cinnamon and tangerine peel. In winter, lamb is also a popular pick and it's available stir-fried or braised with red wine. Don't miss the spicy duck cooked with preserved bean sauce, then steamed and stir-fried before serving.

For more than 80 years, Hang Heung Cake Shop has attracted customers with its freshly-baked lo poh beng (wife cakes), a sweet Cantonese delicacy made with flaky pastry and a candied winter melon filling. As the tale goes, a wife sells herself into servitude in the hope that she can earn enough money to cure her sick husband. Eventually he recovers and creates this delicacy with the intention of using the profits to buy his wife back.

"Today, the tradition of eating wife cakes continues but you don't have to visit Yuen Long because we've got seven other distribution points in places such as Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui and Sha Tin," says marketing manager, Cecilia Cheung Suk-yee. "We sell about 20,000 wife cakes on a weekday and that figure reaches 30,000 a day during the weekends."

Hang Heung was originally a restaurant that sold wife cakes from its shopfront, but its cake business was so successful its owners turned it into a bakery. It now sells about 40 pastries, including festive mooncakes, spring rolls, almond cakes, dried pork sausages and Chinese cookies. All are baked at a plant nearby.

Hang Heung's decor has changed little since it opened. Its attempt to preserve tradition is reflected in its famous cakes, the price of which has risen by only 50 cents (from HK$3.50 to HK$4) in 10 years.

"Healthy eating means less lard and a lighter taste," says Cheung. "The wife cakes are still prepared by hand and filled with winter-melon. These are not cookie-cutter products."

On the outskirts of Yuen Long town is the 33-year old Pizzeria Giovanni Ristorante Italiano.

When this 100-seat outlet opened, it quickly became a favourite among the British Armed Forces based in Kam Tin and Fanling. "At that time, Yuen Long was still a rural area with a limited choice of cuisine," says the pizzaria's managing director, Luigi Yip Chi-kwong, who worked at the Mandarin Oriental and Peninsula hotels in the 70s.

"For the past 30 years, we've had a successful set-up. Next door we have the Chalet bar, which is connected to the main dining room. In the past the army officers would come for our festive celebrations. We were their 'local'," says Yip.

"Since the handover, we have readjusted our strategy. Today, we cater to local customers who want more variety. Our menu items are translated into Chinese and we launched French and Portuguese specialities that are popular. About 90 per cent of our dishes are Italian."

Much of the food is imported for use in dishes such as their cracker-crisp "house special" pizza, topped with ham, pepperoni, cheese, onion and tomato, but Yip is quick to add they use only fresh seafood. "Each morning, I pick fresh seafood from the market myself."

If you want a lighter meal, head to the Ho To Tai Noodle Shop, that specialises in Cantonese shrimp wonton. Established in 1948, the two-storey shop can accommodate about 100 diners. Best-selling items are the wonton noodles with shrimp eggs and the beef flank noodles. The shop uses imported Canadian flour, and freshness is the key to the noodles' success. On a busy day, Ho To Tai sells more than 1,000 bowls.

Owner Chan Kei-yum explains the meaning behind the brand: "'Ho' means 'good', 'To' symbolises thoughtful service while 'Tai' refers to value for money," says Chan, who used to work as the shop's chef.

Now managing the restaurant and the staff, Chan is happy to stand by and cook when needed. His 75-year-old mother can be found every day behind the cash register. Her sharp mind and gentle smile are part of the shop's attraction for customers.

"We try to introduce new products, such as our recent shrimp egg with turnip addition," says Chan. "Clients are welcome to purchase dried noodles to use in their own recipes at home. In addition to plain egg noodles, the shop also makes spinach, carrot and dried scallop noodles.

Like everywhere else in Hong Kong, urban development is encroaching on traditional life in Yuen Long. But the long history, heritage and varied cuisine continue to attract visitors.

Chef Leung from Tai Wing Wah is happier working here than in a more urban environment.

"The charm of dining in Yuen Long prevails because of the decades-old traditionalat outlets like the wonton noodle shops and dai pai dongs. It's something irreplaceable. In addition to superb products and cooking from the heart, the enthusiastic service makes you feel as if you're part of the family."

On the history trail
School opening access to the past
13 December 2008
South China Morning Post

Taking a stroll around the green, historical campus of St Stephen's College on a fine day, one will probably be amazed by its natural beauty and rich cultural heritage. The 105-year-old school, located in a tranquil part of Stanley, has witnessed changes in the city from wartime to peacetime over the past century.

To principal Louise Law Yi-shu, the campus is more than just an ideal place to escape from the hurly-burly of city life. It is also a perfect site for Hongkongers, especially students, to learn more about local and world history.

She recently decided to set up a heritage trail around the school, covering an area of about 150,000 square metres, to guide people through nine historical points in the locality.

"One of the most historic constructions in the school is the main building. The hall of the building was once turned into a military hospital by the government days after the Japanese invaded into Hong Kong [during the second world war]," Dr Law said.

"When the Japanese forced their way into our school [early on Christmas Day in 1941], they killed more than 50 wounded allied soldiers."

Tam Cheung-huen, who was then the school's head of Chinese studies, was also one of the victims. His remains were later buried in the Stanley Military Cemetery, also a part of the heritage trail.

Two expatriate teachers at the school, John Gaunt and Arthur Job, who had joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps as Japanese troops advanced on the city, also lost their lives in the war.

Job was killed in mid-December, 1941, during fighting while Gaunt was taken prisoner and died at the Shamshuipo Prisoner of War Camp on January 4, 1944.

During the occupation, from 1941 to 1945, the school was turned into an internment camp and housed about 1,000 people.

Peter Martin, an Australian now in his 70s, was one of the internees.

"When we [my family] were in the Mary quarters [part of the camp], we overlooked the jail. There were a few prisoners from Stanley camp who escaped and headed away to China. Unfortunately, the Japanese caught most of them and they brought them back, and put them in Stanley jail.

"And if you looked into Stanley jail, there used to be a big compound in the middle. There they used to maltreat them," said Mr Martin, who saw internees being shot. . "But in the camp itself, that sort of thing didn't happen."

He said the Stanley camp was "a lot more civil" than military camps, and they were allowed to study and entertain themselves.

"We used to be able to go swimming down at the beach below Stanley Fort. That was one of the good things," he said. "For the first 18 months, maybe, the children at the camp would be able to go to school."

The school was in St Stephen's hall, which is now a library.

He said that, of the four teachers he knew, three were from the camp and the other was from St Stephen's College. But classes were suspended when they ran out of paper.

"Down at the end of the hall there was a stage. They used to have plays and everything like that in camp," he recalled. "The Japanese used to come in sometimes and watch things. Other times, they didn't. They let us alone."

Carefree as it might sound, he said he felt anxious in the camp, fearing that the Japanese would kill them all if Japan lost the war.

The school's sports field was turned into a vegetable farm to provide much-needed food for the internees but Mr Martin said they still did not have enough to eat.

"I think they say you need so many hundred calories, like 1,600 calories minimum a day. I think we were down to about 700, so people lost a lot of weight. We were all skin and bone. I know when I came out of the camp, I was 31/2 stone [about 22kg]," he said. He was then about 14 years old.

Barbara Anslow, 90, a Briton who also lived in the Mary quarters during the war, recalled: "The food was always our principal talk. At least, thank God, we always had something to eat."

She said the quarters were very crowded. "But luckily, we had a small room, my mum, my two sisters and myself - and one other 'lady' . Eventually, 'she' got evicted. And it was OK. People got used to it."

"It was really like you were in a small village where most people knew everybody else and it was run very, very well by committees and our representative of internees."

Ms Anslow said she had learned a great deal from the experience.

"Before the war, English people tended to live just with English people. In the camp we mixed with lots of other nationalities and religions, and Chinese, well perhaps [those] married to English persons or something like that."

Traces of the war can also be found at the school's chapel, where there is a plaque commemorating soldiers of the Royal Artillery who died in the war and victims of the sinking of the Lisbon Maru in 1942.

The ship, with about 1,800 allied prisoners of war on board, was torpedoed by the USS Grouper off China's coast when it was heading to Japan from Hong Kong.

The Japanese gave no indication that there were prisoners aboard and the American submarine captain thought he was attacking a ship carrying only Japanese troops.

More than 800 prisoners of war died in the tragedy.

"These historical buildings are worth preserving," Dr Law said. "We have a very unique history because very few schools witnessed the second world war. Almost no school in Hong Kong was turned into an internment camp."

The school campus is now listed as a grade-two historic building, which means it is of special merit and should be selectively preserved.

"When you talk about history, most of the students say, 'I don't like history because it happened so long ago ... so it's very boring'.

"But when you tell them that history is not something which is so far away, it's something that is just next to you, you're immersed in history itself, then history comes alive, which is important."

Dr Law said that by setting up the trail and training students to act as guides, she wanted to arouse pupils' interest in history.

"It is an important education process because they understand, first of all, the significance of the various buildings and later on [they learn] to communicate with people. This is the skill of oral expression.

"Also, it develops a sense of belonging to and a sense of pride in the school," she said.

The trail will be inaugurated on Thursday and will probably be opened to the public after the Lunar New Year.

Dr Law said the trail would be open to visitors on one Saturday of every month and details would be announced on its website.

About 70 students from Form One to Form Six had been trained as guides by the school and the Antiquities and Monuments Office, and they would show groups around the campus. Student visitors would also be given worksheets as learning aids.

Dr Law said she also wanted to turn one of the five bungalows at school into a mini-museum, to exhibit the school's more precious antiques.

She had also asked students to interview the then-internees and the school's alumni whenever the chance arose.

"The purpose is to teach students that in order to study history you have to do research. When you do research you have to do it carefully. It is very rigorous. You have to collect materials - raw materials, first-hand or second-hand materials, analyse them and dig into something deeply."

As the call for heritage conservation has grown from a whisper to a roar in the community over recent years, students' awareness of the issue had increased dramatically, Dr Law said.

"People began to realise that there should be a balance between development and conservation. Change is one side of it but conservation is another side of it. Tradition and transformation - the two sides must be balanced.

"You must conserve certain parts of the past as a living testimony to what happened, which is important to the education of our students.

"The government already feels public pressure over the problem and is stepping towards the right direction, but it takes time."

Slim hope for Sunbeam Theatre lease extension
13 December 2008
South China Morning Post

The government still hopes the Sunbeam Theatre, Hong Kong's hub for Cantonese opera, will keep running even though the chance that its landlord will extend the lease again appears to be slim.

Speaking at yesterday's Legco home affairs panel meeting, Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs So Kam-shing said: "We are not giving up yet."

Mr So told the panel that the landlord and Sunbeam Theatre had not yet reached an agreement over the North Point premises, "but we hope that they can continue negotiations".

The theatre's lease expires at the end of next month, with closure expected in early February after Lunar New Year performances.

Earlier in the week, the government admitted that the Home Affairs Bureau had sent a letter to the landlord to explain the situation and expressed the hope the landlord would continue to support the Cantonese opera sector.

But Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, who represents the sports, performing arts, culture and publication functional constituency in the Legislative Council, said a lease extension did not look likely.

"I have been in contact with the landlord but it's not likely that the landlord will change its mind," Mr Fok said.

The government has proposed converting Yau Ma Tei Theatre, a grade two historic building, and the nearby Red Brick Building, a grade one historic building, into a Xiqu activity centre, as a training ground for young Cantonese opera talent and hopefully a tourist attraction. The project would include a 300-seat theatre, management offices and rehearsal rooms.

It has been estimated the project will cost HK$171 million and be completed in 2011. The government will also build a new annex building at Ko Shan Theatre for Cantonese opera performances by 2012.

Legislators expressed concern about where Cantonese opera would be shown in the years between the possible closure of the Sunbeam Theatre and the opening of the new venues.

Mr So said the government had contingency plans if the Sunbeam Theatre closed and had reserved show dates at Leisure and Cultural Services Department venues for Cantonese opera performances.

Time running out for Jessville as talks with owners fail
20 December 2008
South China Morning Post

Owners of the historic Jessville mansion in Pok Fu Lam have threatened to knock it down after a year-long negotiation with the government failed to give them economic incentives to preserve it, their consultant said.

This is the second time the owners have issued such a warning since May, when they demanded the government back their proposal to erect three multi-storey residential blocks surrounding Jessville.

The government was surprised at the news and noted it with regret, a Development Bureau spokeswoman said, adding that discussions were continuing but a consensus on the redevelopment density had yet to be reached.

Any development in Pok Fu Lam needed strong justification, and district councillors and neighbours were very sensitive towards bulky and tall buildings incompatible with the environment, she said.

"The doors for discussion with the owner remain fully open on the government side, with a view to achieving a preservation-cumdevelopment option," she said.

The owner's redevelopment proposal was scheduled to be discussed by the Town Planning Board yesterday, but the owners withdrew it after meeting government officials the day before.

"Time has run out. [The owners] may now demolish the building," the owner's planning consultant Ian Brownlee said. "It's been two years, we have had numerous meetings, but the government is still considering, still covering up what they want."

The 77-year-old structure, declared a proposed monument last year, was later denied that status after the government said it had an assurance from the owners the mansion would be kept as a residents' clubhouse allowing some public access.

It was later classified by the Antiquities Advisory Board as a grade 3 historic building, which gives it no legal protection.

The owners had proposed in two options to build three blocks of 13 to 27 storeys around Jessville. In one option, no extra land was needed but the towers closest to the mansion would only be a few metres away. In the other, the owners ask the government to allow them to extend the site to a green belt area.

Mr Brownlee said the government gave no incentives for either, but instead hinted at a reduction of the plot ratio, the formula that determines the density of the development. "The objective of finding a balance between conservation and development was lost sight of in a bureaucratic paper chase," he said.

Antiquities board member Ng Cho-nam doubted the owners' sincerity in preserving Jessville, and said the best opportunity was lost when it was deprived of monument status. Bernard Chan, appointed chairman yesterday, said he would not want to see Jessville go, but buying it out with public money would be unlikely to meet public support.

He believed a heritage trust should be set up as soon as possible to prevent a similar occurrence.

The advisory board in the future would engage the public before grading historic buildings, he continued, noting that the board's job had often fell short of public expectation.

The board, reshuffled, will see five new members: Lee Ho-yin, director of architectural conservation at Hong Kong University; Tracey Lu Lei-dan, an anthropologist at Chinese University; Billy So Kee-long, an historian at Chinese University; Anissa Chan Wong Lai-kuen, principal of St Paul's Co-educational College and Lilian Law Suk-kwan, director of the Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association.

Deity's approval sought before work started on high-rise beside historic temple
27 December 2008
South China Morning Post

Housing Department engineers not only had to overcome planning and construction problems in building a public housing estate next to a historic temple - they also had to seek permission from the resident deity.

The biggest problem was sinking deep foundations on the narrow strip of land in Kowloon City without damaging Hau Wong Temple, a Grade I historic building sited just tens of metres away.

The department had never built an estate so close to a historic monument before.

"We could not use traditional pile drivers as the vibration they caused might damage the statues inside the temple," Ir Chan Siu-tack, the department's chief structural engineer, said. "Nor could we move the statues away, as they are extremely valuable to the temple."

The solution was a 360-degree rotator, which rotates and bores into the ground simultaneously, minimising vibration and noise.

Mr Chan said the year-long foundation phase took "a little longer" than in normal building projects.

But before any of that began, the construction team sought approval from Hau Wong, the main deity of the 278-year-old temple, through a religious ceremony. Mr Chan said the Chinese temple committee that managed the temple was supportive of the project.

The estate, expected to be finished by the first half of 2010, cost about HK$224 million, of which the foundation phase accounted for about 14 per cent. The 10,000 square metre site was formerly the Tung Tau cottage area. With a steep slope taking up more than 40 per cent of the land, only one T-shaped building could be built. The 40-storey building will have 799 flats, ranging from studios to two-bedroom apartments.

With the estate next to the Chinese Christian Cemetery, Mr Chan said four flats on each floor would have a cemetery view, although planners had done their best to minimise the cemetery outlook. "We adopted the T-shape design because it blocked most of the cemetery view."

The city has been increasingly concerned about the "wall effect" - large buildings or groups of buildings blocking airflow. Mr Chan said that while the estate was taller than most of its neighbours, residents found it acceptable after much communication with the Kowloon City district council and Housing Department.

The estate was designed to fit into its surroundings, he said. For example, the facade of the building, with graphics of bamboo and Chinese traditional "lucky clouds", was a match with Hau Wong Temple.

Rent subsidy may save Sunbeam Theatre
24 December 2008
South China Morning Post

A new plan being considered by the government could save the embattled Sunbeam Theatre.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kam Nai-wai said the plan included the government paying part of the rent.

Mr Kam was speaking after a meeting yesterday with the undersecretary for home affairs, Florence Hui Hiu-fai.

"The government would consider ways to support the operation of the theatre through seeking sponsorship and appropriate subsidy schemes," the Home Affairs Bureau said.

The theatre, a centre for Cantonese opera productions, faces closure because of decreasing audiences and the likelihood of a rent rise after the current lease expires on January 31. If it closes, the last performances would be held during the Lunar New Year.

The theatre pays HK$200,000 a month in rent, while rents for nearby buildings and shopping complexes are much higher. The rate expected under a new lease was in the region of HK$400,000, Mr Kam said.

The plan would hinge entirely on the government and the property owner reaching an agreement. "If the rent is too high, the government will be unable to justify the proposed subsidy to taxpayers," Mr Kam said.

Even if the negotiations over rent failed, it would not spell the end of large-scale Cantonese opera productions. Mr Kam outlined some possible alternatives, including relocating many productions to Sha Tin and Tuen Mun town halls through "venue partnership schemes", as well as granting opera productions priority venue hiring in four other public arenas - the Tsuen Wan Town Hall, Hong Kong City Hall, Kwai Tsing Theatre and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.

The government is also considering projects to increase the number of opera venues available. These include the HK$171 million conversion of the Yau Ma Tei Theatre and Red Brick Building into a cultural activity centre, and the construction of additional venues at the Ko Shan Theatre and in the Xiqu Centre of the West Kowloon Cultural District.

Mr Kam welcomed the ongoing consultation between the government and the theatre's landlord and he encouraged opera companies to take advantage of the alternate venues to hold productions.

"We cannot rely only on these solutions," said Mr Kam, noting that the Yau Ma Tei project was not scheduled to be completed until 2011. "The current plan is too piecemeal and it only concerns itself with the short-term future of the opera industry."

Arts boss foreshadows Sunbeam Theatre deal
1 January 2009
South China Morning Post

A deal is expected to be struck this month between the government and the owners of the Sunbeam Theatre in North Point in a plan to keep the popular Cantonese Opera venue open until an alternative is available.

The venue had faced closure because of a drastic increase in rent but the government now plans to increase subsidies to the opera groups using the theatre while negotiating a rent they can afford.

Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs Carrie Yau Tsang Ka-lai said the government could not use public money to subsidise the theatre's rent directly.

But with extra funding, the groups should be able to afford the new rent until the Xiqu Centre opens in the West Kowloon Cultural District in 2015.

The present rent is HK$200,000 a month but the landlord has been asking for HK$800,000 after the contract ends next month. A government source said earlier it estimated the market rent at HK$400,000.

Speaking at a media gathering yesterday Mrs Yau, who is involved in the negotiations, gave no details of the likely rent or planned subsidies. But she said she expected a deal to be struck with the landlord next month.

Closure of the Sunbeam Theatre next month would leave the groups without a suitable home before the West Kowloon theatre opened.

On the progress of developing the arts hub in West Kowloon, Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs Cathy Chu Man-ling said 67 candidates were vying for the post of executive director of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, including engineers and people from the arts sector.

North Kowloon Magistracy eyed as possible opera centre
Artists association unveils plan for Cantonese opera centre
6 January 2009
South China Morning Post

A key Cantonese opera society has unveiled a plan to convert a historic building into a training centre and museum dedicated to the local art.

But some opera veterans said the proposed centre would never be able to replace the Sunbeam Theatre, if the renowned North Point venue were to shut down next month after the Lunar New Year holiday. The theatre is at the centre of a rent debate.

The Chinese Artists Association said it had submitted an application to turn the North Kowloon Magistracy into a cultural centre for Cantonese opera under the Development Bureau's Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme.

The building was among the seven historic structures listed in the first phase of the scheme.

The association's chairwoman, Lisa Wang Ming-chuen, said the group's application was among the final three of the 21 submitted for the North Kowloon Magistracy. The results will be announced next month.

She said meetings had been held with the vetting committee, which was most concerned about how the proposed centre would be operated and managed. She declined to speculate on the likelihood that the association's application would be accepted, but she said it was necessary that immediate steps be taken to preserve Cantonese opera.

"Hong Kong has a more original form of Cantonese opera than what is practised on the mainland. Its development is different and incomplete because of the Cultural Revolution," Ms Wang said.

The North Kowloon Magistracy would be the ideal venue for an opera centre as Sham Shui Po was slated to become a new cultural hub, she said.

The proposed centre would have six floors and include a traditional tea house where Cantonese opera songs would be performed, a museum, an archive of Cantonese opera materials, rehearsal studios, and offices.

The top floor of the building would be transformed into a dormitory available for visiting Cantonese opera troupes or tourists. Parts of the historic building, including two former holding cells and one of the four court rooms, would be preserved.

Ms Wang said the government would provide HK$150 million to pay for renovations and HK$5 million for the first three years of operation.

"But we will still have to raise at least another HK$15 million in order to cover all the costs," she said.

Admission fees for the museum, expected to be HK$30 for adults, and rent from the dormitory, which would be HK$500 to HK$600 a night for a room for two people, would be the main sources of income, she said.

But association vice-chairman Yuen Siu-fai said the centre would not be able to replace the Sunbeam Theatre because of its history and location. He said the landlord was less concerned about raising the rent than the apparent lack of a plan for development of Cantonese opera.

The Home Affairs Bureau said Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing had met with the landlord and the operator of the Sunbeam Theatre last month and that the bureau hoped negotiations for a lease extension could be continued.

The lease is up at the end of this month but the landlord agreed to extend it until after the Lunar New Year. The bureau said it could consider adopting a different funding plan.

Restorers of damaged historic mansion find tiles that are almost a perfect match
5 January 2009
South China Morning Post

A makeover on the historic Mid-Levels mansion King Yin Lei on Stubbs Road began last week after a restoration expert procured tiles from a factory in Foshan similar to those torn off the building.

Experts said the new tiles were about a 90 per cent match to the originals but were darker in colour.

Government sources said all required building materials could be reproduced eventually.

"The new tiles are close to the original look, but not exactly the same," said Tang Guohua of Guangzhou University's school of architecture and urban planning. "The colour is darker because factories no longer use firewood to fire tile kilns."

Professor Tang said tile-kiln temperatures were now higher because of the fuels used to fire them, resulting in darker-coloured tiles that were more durable.

He monitored restoration work on the building on Thursday and issued instructions to workers installing the tiles on the roof after the first batch of reproduced tiles arrived from Foshan.

The restoration would require 50,000 new tiles of various types, according to a Development Bureau spokeswoman.

Professor Tang said: "Such scale of reproduction must be done by a factory on a large scale. Foshan has only two [such factories]."

The spokeswoman said the Antiquities and Monuments Office believed that all building materials for the restoration could be produced, including timber, tiles, masonry and metal components.

Professor Tang said about 90 per cent of the information needed to carry out the restoration had been gathered but it did not necessarily mean the mansion could be fully restored to its original appearance.

"It all depends on the skills of the craftsmen," he said, adding that reconstruction of the roof was just the beginning.

"The most difficult task will be making the terrazzo," he said, referring to the designs created in marble chips on walkways, floors, patios and panels.

Professor Tang added: "We are considering asking retired craftsmen to show their master skills to younger ones."

A Mrs Lee, who has lived in the neighbourhood for more than 20 years, said: "It is good to see the mansion repaired but it can never look the same. It has been a favourite place for tourists. It's unbearable to see it falling apart."

The unidentified former owner of the iconic 1930s Chinese-style mansion began stripping the roof and decorative features in September 2007. The government, criticised for its late action, declared the building a monument last July and commissioned experts to restore it. The property is now owned by the government after it swapped another piece of land nearby for the mansion and its land.

The roof will be completed in the first quarter of this year. It will be followed by the facade. The interior should be completed by next year.

Grocery store to close after eight decades of community service
21 January 2009
South China Morning Post

A grocery store that has operated in Central for more than 80 years but is closing this weekend has been commended for its contribution to the community.

Owner Kwan Moon-chiu said his dilapidated Wing Woo store at the intersection of Graham and Wellington streets had witnessed the growth and decline of grocery businesses in the city since the 1920s.

Mr Kwan, 76, said the grocery had been co-founded by his uncle and father and he had helped out at the store since he was 12.

He said he had slept at the store every night for about 20 years until he got married in 1959.

"I miss everything in the store and my regulars," he said.

Mr Kwan said his business had been at its prime when the mainland started to open up about 30 years ago. "Resources were scarce at that time. People would buy everything we sold."

But the business had declined since 1997 as supermarkets and chain grocery stores started to flourish.

When the Urban Renewal Authority asked him whether he wanted to rent the store for another year at HK$17,000 a month, Mr Kwan declined because he was hardly making a profit at the current rental of HK$10,000 a month.

The authority plans to redevelop Graham Street into Hong Kong's first "old shop street", featuring speciality shops.

Mr Kwan said all the tools and furniture at the store would be donated to the Hong Kong Museum of History for preservation.

The Conservancy Association Centre for Heritage, the Central and Western Concern Group and the SEE Network, a group dedicated to town-planning research and publication, awarded a certificate to Wing Woo yesterday in recognition of its contribution to the community.

Lee Kwong-lam, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Provisions, Wine and Spirit Dealers' Association, also congratulated Mr Kwan, an old friend, on his success over so many years.

Sunbeam all set for new lease of life
Hong Kong Standard
Thursday, February 05, 2009

The landlord of the Sunbeam Theatre, the only dedicated venue for Cantonese opera in Hong Kong, has agreed to extend the lease at HK$699,000 a month rent until 2012, according to a source.

After weeks of talks between the Home Affairs Bureau and landlord Yu Tai Hing, the landlord agreed to lower by about 12.5 percent the rent it had originally sought. Yu Tai Hing had wanted a 300 percent increase to HK$800,000 a month from the current HK$200,000.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen watched a Cantonese opera on Tuesday evening at the North Point venue.

A government source said the administration will not directly subsidize the rent. He said the Sunbeam operator is expected to raise charges for Chinese opera groups, for which the administration has been providing financial support. He expected the groups may need more funding in the future, and the government hopes to help by seeking more sponsors for Cantonese opera groups.


But he said criticisms by lawmakers and opera groups indirectly enhanced the bargaining power of the landlord instead. "It may not be easy for the landlord to find a tenant these days, and it will also cost him quite a lot if he were to renovate the building," the source said. However, a property agent said it is a win-win deal for Sunbeam and the landlord, as he believed HK$699,000 is a bit lower than the market price.

Yu Tai Hing bought the 80,000-square-foot property in 2003 for HK$162 million, aiming to transform it into a shopping mall.

中區警署古蹟群倡限高
07/02/2009

中區警署古蹟群新發展計劃受爭議，13個關注團體及民間組織聯合向城規會提申請，建議在項目加入77米（主水平基準．下同）的高度限制，以避免古蹟與新建築高度及比例不協調；另新地修訂元朗錦田下高埔村住宅發展，主要是增建7幢洋房至48幢，並大減單位平均面積逾24%至1,031方呎，單位量因而大增 200個至830個。

13個團體及組織包括中西區關注組、環保觸覺及創建香港等，認為馬會的新發展方案違反古物古蹟辦事處，指明要保存古蹟原有布局完整性的規範，馬會雖曾指會降低新建築物高度，但卻未有透露減幅，及堅持興建劇院等文化設施，故該批團體申請在大綱圖說明書，加入上層平台新建築物高度不可逾77米及保留F倉的建議。

福全街申建27層酒店
錦田項目將建48幢3層高洋房及25幢6至23層高中、低密度住宅，平均單位面積由1,358方呎減至1,031方呎。

另有兩項酒店申請，裕泰興的大角咀福全街31號，申請重建1幢27層高酒店，提供198個房間；盈信控股的旺角通菜街123、125及127號，擬重建1幢17層高酒店，提供50個房間。

地政總署修訂勾地表3幅九龍灣及觀塘商貿地的出售章程，該批地建酒店須獲規劃許可，因有關許可已獲續期至二○一三年而作修訂。 http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/img/endmarker.gif

NGOs want 77m height limit on Central Police Station project
10 February 2009
South China Morning Post

An alliance of 13 NGOs has applied to the Town Planning Board for a 77-metre height restriction on the Central Police Station site.

The limit, if adopted, would mean the Jockey Club, which has undertaken to conserve the site, would have to almost halve the height of the controversial 150-metre structure it proposed in 2007.

The alliance, formed by green groups and heritage concern groups, said its proposal was based on a decision by the Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) in 2004 and on a Jockey Club architect's suggestion to respect the "open character" of the prison courtyard.

The alliance explained its proposal at a press conference yesterday.

"If the AMO considered 77 metres to be the maximum height for commercial development, it should be even more so for any development revitalised with heritage conservation first in mind," Heritage Hong Kong convenor Maggie Brooke said.

The Development Bureau said the alliance's application was "unnecessary" and a height limit would curtail design flexibility. It said the 2004 decision was made in the context of a commercial tender for redevelopment of the site, but now the Jockey Club was to conserve it on a non-profit-making basis.

Paul Zimmerman of Designing Hong Kong rejected this explanation and accused the government of double standards. He urged the public to hand in supporting comments to the Town Planning Board before February 27.

Central and Western district councillor Cheng Lai-king said she would ask the district council to support the application. Last year the Jockey Club bowed to public pressure and scrapped its plan for a 150-metre-high observation deck. It promised to reduce the height and bulk of the new structure after a six-month public consultation.

The club said yesterday its architects had only just begun to review the compound design. "As we are still in the early stages of concept design, we believe any allegation of insincere consideration of public views is unfounded," it said.

Bernard Lim Wan-fung, a member of the Antiquities Advisory Board and the Town Planning Board, said: "An arbitrary height limit would limit design flexibility, but the Jockey Club must remain sensitive to the community's concern."

He said the government should not rely solely on the Town Planning Board for design approval, as the board was not responsible for looking at a project's conservation merits.

From news.gov.hk:
Historic building revitalisation projects selected (http://news.gov.hk/en/category/infrastructureandlogistics/090217/html/090217en06001.htm)

舊大埔警署撥第二批
18/02/2009
東方日報

http://orientaldaily.on.cc/photo/20090218/new/0218nhko05b1.jpg

【 本 報 訊 】 發 展 局 昨 公 布 第 二 批 活 化 歷 史 建 築 伙 伴 計 劃 名 單 ， 當 中 包 括 首 批 未 有 批出 的 舊 大 埔 警 署 ， 活 化 歷 史 建 築 諮 詢 委 員 會 指 廿 三 份 申 請 書 均 未 達 標 ， 未 能 善 用 該面 積 達 六 千 五 百 平 方 米 ， 且 環 境 優 美 的 地 方 ， 財 務 計 劃 亦 不 可 行 。

下 期 包 括 藍 屋
舊 大 埔 警 署 共 有 廿 三 份 申 請 ， 大 部 分 建 議 用 作 營 舍 、 舉 辦 課 程 、 活 動 或 展 覽 、 辦 事處 用 途 ， 只 有 一 個 申 請 入 選 第 二 輪 甄 選 ， 但 最 終 都 落 敗 。 第 二 批 活 化 歷 史 建 築 伙 伴計 劃 還 包 括 灣 仔 藍 屋 建 築 群 、 九 龍 城 石 屋 、 沙 田 王 屋 村 古 屋 和 前 粉 嶺 裁 判 法 院 。 發展 局 局 長 林 鄭 月 娥 說 ， 雖 然 第 二 批 計 劃 要 到 年 中 保 育 條 例 完 成 後 始 正 式 發 出 邀 請 ，提 早 公 布 可 令 有 興 趣 的 機 構 早 些 開 始 構 思 。

灣 仔 藍 屋 建 築 群 已 交 由 房 屋協 會 收 購 業 權 ， 並 以 留 屋 兼 留 人 的 形 式 活 化 ， 即 住 客 可 以 選 擇 留 下 來 繼 續 居 住 。 九龍 城 石 屋 位 於 侯 王 廟 新 村 ， 該 村 在 五 十 年 代 設 有 多 個 電 影 片 場 ， 到 七 十 年 代 ， 部 分石 屋 改 變 用 途 作 工 場 ， 該 村 於 二 ○ ○ 一 年 清 拆 ， 石 屋 為 僅 存 建 築 物 。

沙 田 王 屋 村 古 屋 是 村 內 僅 存 的 清 代 建 築 ， 為 法 定 古 蹟 ， 位 於 圓 洲 角 公 園 內 。 前 粉 嶺 裁 判 法 院 建 於 一 九 六 ○ 年 ， 展 現 新 古 典 建 築 風 格 。

爭北九法院八和不敵洋人政府撐粵劇齌(口翕)
汪明荃 認戇居好想喊
18/02/2009

http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/news/20090218/img/a110218a_big.jpg

http://orientaldaily.on.cc/photo/20090218/new/0218nhko04b2.jpg

首批活化歷史建築伙伴計劃結果揭盅，最具爭議的北九龍裁判法院，由美國一藝術設計學院擊敗八和會館奪得，最終更掀起一場罵戰。八和會館主席汪明荃坦言感痛心，批評政府扶持粵劇發展「得個講字」，活化歷史建築諮詢委員會主席陳智思則暗寸八和會館，「好多人申請只想有個地方用，而非保育歷史建築物。」

北九龍裁判法院共有二十二份申請，到第二輪甄選為三強之爭，最終由港人較陌生的美國薩凡納藝術設計學院脫穎而出。陳智思說：「我們並非隔山買牛，當局派了兩位同事到美國睇睇，薩凡納好多幢校舍都係歷史建築物，保育得好好，其數碼設計課程亦符合香港發展創意工業的定位。」

不排除上街作抗爭
陳智思稱不評論落選機構，但指很多申請人只想有個地方用來提供服務，出發點並非保育歷史建築物。薩凡納不用政府資助改裝北九，陳否認財雄勢大有優勢，指薩凡納各方面評分都很高。失落的汪明荃則稱，收到消息後想喊，她炮轟政府講一套做一套，口口聲聲扶持粵劇發展，但「得個講字」。她指粵劇界有迫切性開設訓練中心，不明當局何以將北九交予美國藝術學校，「點解政府將香港市民砼公帑去支持外國藝術學校？」

汪說，去年聖誕節已聽聞政府內定結果，她要求委員會公開評審準則，她又說，八和會館花了五十萬元做報告，政府曾揚言八和進入三強，如今又批評八和欠缺管治經驗及財力，令她有感「畀人擺上罎做政府花瓶」之嫌，慨嘆只是八和「戇居」。她不認為八和未有注重保育，反指委員會無細心閱讀，八和不排除上街抗爭。

舊大澳警署變酒店

舊大澳警署則由信和集團旗下的香港歷史文物保育建設有限公司活化為四星級精品酒店。陳智思表示歡迎商界以非牟利形式活化歷史建築物，但委員會也擔心被指官商勾結。香港歷史文物保育建設有限公司執行董事黃永光說，酒店房價錢參考亞洲區的精品酒店，雙人房每晚一千五百元，而天台餐廳會以大澳的鹹魚、鹹蛋和蝦醬炮製東南亞美食。

發展局局長林鄭月娥說，政府撥款四億九千萬元資助五座歷史建築物復修，及以一千一百萬元資助其中四個社會企業營運，這個計劃可提供一千個建築職位，到運作階段則會有五百多個全職及兼職職位。 http://the-sun.on.cc/channels/img/endmarker.gif

Nurses' quarters saved from the wrecking ball
Hospital block passes heritage test
16 February 2009
South China Morning Post

The 72-year-old nurses' quarters at Queen Mary Hospital have been saved from demolition after an assessment confirmed the building's heritage value.

A Hospital Authority source said the hospital had been told about the preliminary findings of the heritage assessment and was preparing conservation plans. The 1,400-bed hospital had wanted to knock down the nurses' quarters and build a trauma and cardiac centre on the site.

But the plan faced opposition from some hospital staff who said the building had historical value.

Last year the authority commissioned the Architectural Services Department to conduct a site investigation and the department hired a consultant to conduct a heritage assessment of the building. The work cost about HK$14 million.

The nursing quarters opened in December 1936, four months before the hospital's official opening. It has been used as overnight accommodation for female medical staff since the nursing school closed in 2001.

"We have been told that the quarters cannot be demolished. We have to find a new site to build the cardiac centre," the authority source said.

The source said conservation of the building would increase the burden on the hospital's budget.

"As it is the decision of the assessment and is what society wants, we accept this and we are now preparing plans on how to put the building to good use," the source said.

One possibility was to turn the building into offices but details had yet to be worked out.

The source said the hospital was looking for other sites for redevelopment but the choice was limited.

A Development Bureau spokesman said the "overall heritage value of QMH nursing quarters is still being assessed by relevant departments".

Former medical legislator Kwok Ka-ki, who has been advocating for conservation of the building, said he was glad to hear the news.

"It is a good news for everyone. Queen Mary Hospital and the nursing quarters are a living testimony of medical development in Hong Kong since the '30s. The building should be opened to the public," he said.

Dr Kwok suggested the authority recruit retired nurses to lead heritage tours for the public.

"Some of the space of the nursing quarters can hold exhibitions on medical history. It can also inspire more people to join the nursing profession," he said.

The building, constructed in 1936, is a derivative of the neoclassical style known as stripped classicism, which was favoured by the Nazis.

The old Wan Chai Police Station, built in 1932, is of the same style.

Minister vows support for Cantonese opera amid row
22 February 2009
South China Morning Post

The government has defended its support for Cantonese opera in the wake of criticism of its decision to award tenancy of the North Kowloon Magistracy historical building to an American school rather than an organisation dedicated to preserving the traditional art form.

Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing said the government was aiming to raise a monthly rental subsidy of up to HK$200,000 for the Sunbeam Theatre, a popular venue for Cantonese opera in North Point.

The landlord recently extended the lease for another three years but at a much higher rent.

He said that the Development Bureau had supported the Chinese Artists Association's application to turn the historic North Kowloon Magistracy into a Cantonese opera centre under the bureau's revitalising historic buildings through partnership scheme.

He also praised the work of association chairwoman Liza Wang Ming-chuen who accused the government of failing to support local arts and culture by handing the historic building to Savannah College of Art and Design, which is based in Georgia, in the United States.

"The North Kowloon Magistracy was a heritage conservation project and the scheme had its own set of standards," Mr Tsang said.

"I know that Liza did a lot of hard work for the project and she did a lot of lobbying, so it was understandable how disappointing the result was for her."

He insisted that awarding North Kowloon Magistracy to the college "did not mean that the government does not support Cantonese opera".

He said the government had been funding Cantonese opera to the tune of HK$33 million a year, including money for performances and training. The monthly rent of Sunbeam Theatre had increased from HK$208,000 to HK$698,000 under the new lease.

Mr Tsang said that the government would subsidise the theatre by HK$100,000 each month through the Arts Development Council. He said that the government would also actively seek public sponsorship for the theatre and he hoped that together with the funding from the Arts Development Council, the monthly subsidy for the theatre could reach more than HK$200,000.

Mr Tsang said Cantonese opera in Hong Kong remained commercially viable and insisted that the government had to be very careful about subsidising commercial operations.

Meanwhile, SCAD gained support from the US consulate and the vetting committee amid criticism over the college's alleged management problems.

Bernard Chan, chairman of the advisory committee on revitalisation of historic buildings, said he had received a recommendation from the consulate general of the United States praising the college's contribution to its host cities.

"The college was said to have contributed to the revitalisation of Savannah city, Georgia, showing it has a rich preservation background," he said.

The consulate's letter also said students who graduated from the college were heavily recruited by renowned film companies, including Dreamworks, Pixar and Lucasfilm.

Mr Chan also quoted an article published in The New York Times saying the college's preservation works had rejuvenated its host city.

"Savannah has benefited from a most unusual redevelopment tool - a private arts college that has invested US$30 million over two decades buying and repairing 52 downtown buildings for its own use," the article reads.

Study points to importance of Central's low-rise areas
2 March 2009
South China Morning Post

Developments above Hollywood Road, including the Central School site, should be low density to preserve the integrity of the last two low-rise districts in Central, an architectural study says.

The study, conducted by Chinese University, analysed Central's cityscape using aerial photos and identified small districts that were worthy of preservation.

"The two groups of post-war buildings in Tai Ping Shan Street and Graham Street are the last two low-rise areas to be found in Central," said Woo Pui-leng, an associate professor of the university's department of architecture, referring to tenement buildings of four-to-six storeys built after the second world war.

"Instead of forcing people to walk inside huge structures, the two areas are still full of street life with small shops and neighbourhood activities," she said, adding that Yu Lok Lane and the Staunton Street neighbourhood would soon be replaced by high-rises in renewal projects.

The development approach to areas above Hollywood Road was critical because these areas, including the former Central School site, linked the two low-rise districts.

But recent redevelopments taking place between the two areas had destroyed the integrity of the low-rise cityscape.

"The high-rises that have recently popped up have blocked the visual corridor between the two areas and people can hardly walk from Tai Ping Shan Street to Graham Street now," Dr Woo said.

She said Wing Lee Street - part of the Staunton Street redevelopment project - was the main passage through the two low-rise areas, and urged the Urban Renewal Authority to improve the connection and urban design of the project.

"Post-war tenement buildings of human scale are an endangered species in the process of extinction," said adjunct associate professor Yuet Tsang-chi, who also participated in the research, adding that they were integrated places for life and work.

An exhibition illustrating the transformation of Central is now open at the Conservancy Association Centre for Heritage and features models of the two low-rise areas.

通識路路通：活化歷史建築 創造旅遊景點
4 March 2009
文匯報

陳志華 香港通識教育會

日前，政府公布首批活化歷史建築物的甄選結果。在114個申請中，以雷生春獲最多團體申請，共有30分。結果，舊大澳警署將活化為精品酒店，芳園書室將活化為旅遊及教育中心，荔枝角醫院將活化為推廣中華文化及國民教育中心，雷生春將活化為中醫藥保健中心，北九龍裁判法院就變身成藝術設計學院，美荷樓將活化成青年旅舍。發展局局長林鄭月娥指出，所有獲選計劃都能達致活化計劃的兩個目標，既可保育歷史建築，亦可創造多領域的社會效益。大家可從多角度去分析，作深入探究。

好處：不少古蹟殘舊 活化發揮作用

不少古蹟已十分殘舊，更停止使用多年。以荔枝角醫院為例，已停用多年。無論市民大眾或外地旅客也沒有機會進入這些建築物內，深入認識這些建築物的歷史價值。大家只可以在外觀察。這些屬於本土的歷史建築文物，應由大家分享。將來，經過活化後，大家可以有機會使用或參觀這些建築物。這些古蹟更得到保育，不致被風雨侵蝕，最終倒塌。建築物是人所建，獲得人使用，才能發揮其作用。若不活化，最終只會被遺忘及消失。

重溫昔日情懷

另外，每一個地方也有其本身的歷史文化，香港也不例外。香港的發展一日千里，不少珍貴的古舊建築也因發展而被迫拆卸。這些舊建築正是這個地方歷史的重要組成部分。近年，香港發展以經濟主導，歷史建築往往被犧牲掉。從天星碼頭及皇后碼頭兩次的抗爭事件，便可得知香港市民也關心歷史文化。活化舊建築正滿足市民的期望。大家可以使用或參觀這些舊建築，除了可以重溫昔日情懷，更明白香港的歷史。

助紓緩就業不足

經濟發展方面，在金融海嘯下，本港經濟情況難免大受影響。不少市民也面對失業、減薪的困擾。活化舊建築正好提供就業，改善經濟。活化一座建築物，首先需要建築或維修的專才協助，完成維修後，再配合建築物的新功能，又需要另一些人才。如雷生春改建為中醫藥保健中心，北九龍裁判法院就改建為藝術設計學院等，有關機構便會聘請中醫或藝術人才，有助紓緩就業不足的情況。

建築物混合中西之美

此外，香港是一個國際旅遊城市。不少旅客來港參觀遊玩，消閒購物。除新穎建築吸引外，歷史建築因有本地特色，成為另類賣點。香港是一個中西文化匯集的地方，不少建築也有這種特色。如荔枝角醫院表面是一座西式建築物，紅磚為外牆，屋頂卻是罕有的中式兩層瓦頂設計。這座建築物原是一座監獄，後在1938年改建為傳染病醫院及療養院。遊客參觀時，發覺本地的建築物混合了中西文化之美，既有西方的優雅，亦有東方的古典。活化這些建築，有助遊客認識過去香港的發展路。

有助發展藝術文化

由文化發展的角度看，不少文化團體表示缺乏地方發展，也有不少藝術團體使用土瓜灣牛棚藝術村，作為推廣藝術之用。原址前身是牛隻的中央屠宰中心，後改建成為藝術村。以「藝術公社」為例，它本身是一個民間藝術組織，在1997年7月成立。「公社」最初在石塘咀長發工業大廈設置工作室，後不斷遷徙，由北角油街藝術村到長沙灣屠房，最後遷至土瓜灣牛棚藝術村。由此可見，不少文化藝術團體實在缺乏空間發展創作及發展。活化建築有助發展藝術文化。

有助改善政府形象

對政府來說，活化舊建築物也是利多弊少。雖然不少舊建築物位於市區黃金地段，若拆卸後重建，庫房收益更大。不少舊建築已列入保護文物或評級建築名單中，政府不可拆卸，卻需要付出資源，作定期維修及保養。經過活化計劃，部分工作可由其他機構或團體負責，政府的負擔得以減輕。市民大眾的保育意識日益提高。活化建築有助改善政府形象，提高民望。

爭議：粵劇團體申請落選引發批評

不過，這次甄選結果卻引發爭議，古蹟活化計劃公布後，引起一些團體反對。其中以八和會館的反對最為激烈。八和會館會長汪明荃指出，該館曾申請北九龍裁判法院為粵劇學校，最後落選。她感到十分失望，直斥這座美好的建築物竟批給外國機構薩凡納藝術設計學院基金(香港)有限公司，令她懷疑政府扶持粵劇的決心。由此可見，這個計劃引發本地文化藝術團體和外來藝術團體之爭。政府處於其中，應如何處理？

結語：取得共識找到發展方向很重要

香港是國際大都會，要不斷發展，才有競爭力，但發展之餘，舊有建築如何處理？如何取得平衡是十分重要的。大家不應只貪新忘舊，但懷舊欠創新也不可。政府、市民大眾、富豪財團、文化機構等如何取得共識，找出一個適合香港的發展方向，對市民大眾都有好處。

Controversial Repulse Bay hotel plan dropped
18 March 2009
South China Morning Post

The government has abandoned plans to turn the Seaview Building in Repulse Bay into a hotel development and will revitalise the building, the Planning Department says in a paper to be discussed by the Town Planning Board on Friday.

The original plan - rezoning the vacant, 60-year-old building as a comprehensive development area comprising a hotel, barbecue spots and restaurants - encountered strong public opposition, with the board receiving more than 900 objections during the public consultation period, including those of the Southern District Council.

Opponents feared that the beach could be privatised by the hotel development and that traffic congestion would get worse.

The Planning Department says the government will not pursue the land disposal plan and will explore ways to reuse the Seaview Building.

The Transport Department has also agreed to study the possibility of converting part of the public car park along Beach Road into a drop-off area for coaches to ease traffic congestion.

But the study will start only after the opening of a new commercial complex on the former Lido site. The site, next to the Seaview Building, used to be a low-rise commercial area for bars and boutiques. It was later redeveloped by the Emperor Group but it has remained a construction site for the past eight years.

Paul Zimmerman, a co-founder of concern group Designing Hong Kong, welcomed the government's change of plan but urged it to draw up a holistic plan for Repulse Bay.

"I am disappointed the government has not identified a body to resolve all relevant issues in Repulse Bay." He added the Lido site redevelopment should be expedited.

"The traffic on Beach Road is intolerable. It affects our quality of living," he said, referring to the disturbances caused by idling coaches and double parking along the road.

The Planning Department said some proposals to revitalise Repulse Bay- including the possibility of offering a longer lease term for the Seaview Building and upgrading adjoining public buildings managed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department - fell outside the board's purview and had been referred to government departments.

Southern District Council member Ronald Chan Ngok-pang said he hoped the board would accept the Planning Department's advice and reject the hotel plan.

He said at least three companies had expressed interest in running the building and turning it into a beach club and dining facilities.

More incentives sought to save privately owned heritage sites
20 March 2009
South China Morning Post

The government should give more incentives to owners of graded historic sites to prevent the King Yin Lei saga happening again, an Antiquities Advisory Board member said.

Ng Cho-nam said although the government had made a breakthrough and extended coverage to sites that were not buildings in the latest batch of graded sites, grading alone could not ensure preservation because it did not give the sites statutory protection.

"Grading is only the first step," Dr Ng said. "The government needs to continue to put in resources to protect privately owned heritage. To get to the root of the problem, the town planning policy should be changed to enable heritage owners to transfer their development rights."

There are at least two graded buildings under threat - a mansion at 64 Kennedy Road and Jessville on Pokfulam Road. The owner of the Kennedy Road site has received approval to redevelop it, while the owner of Jessville has threatened to demolish it and build residential towers.

Board chairman Bernard Chan said he was worried some privately owned heritage would be threatened and appealed to the public to keep an eye on the sites. Seventy per cent of graded buildings are privately owned.

The government has talked of a heritage trust to acquire private sites or to compensate owners for not tearing them down, but Development Bureau deputy secretary Janet Wong Wing-chen said yesterday the trust would not be set up for at least five years.

She said owners could apply for public grants to maintain their historic buildings and the existing mechanism would keep the government informed if an owner attempted to alter a building's structure or demolish it. The government could then declare the site a proposed monument and buy a year's time to negotiate with the owner.

However, if the owner did not alter the structure but defaced the building, as in the case of King Yin Lei, at 45 Stubbs Road, he could escape government attention. It was only after media reports that the government declared the mansion a proposed monument and saved it last year.

http://orientaldaily.on.cc/photo/20090320/new/0320nhko08b6.jpg

What does it mean?


http://orientaldaily.on.cc/photo/20090320/new/0320nhko08b6.jpg

History and creativity on road to revitalisation
23 March 2009
South China Morning Post

The former police married quarters in Hollywood Road are post-war buildings linked to Hong Kong's, and the nation's, history by what lies underneath them - the ruins of the 19th century Central School that educated Sun Yat-sen, "father of modern China". They also complement the historic Central Police Station and the old Victoria Prison nearby. The buildings, too, are now a part of our past that is worth preserving. How to revitalise them for a role in the future is therefore a sensitive heritage and development issue.

The ideas of Commerce and Economic Development Secretary Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan have some appeal in this respect. As we report today, she envisages turning the old police married quarters into a home for creative industries and a showcase for the innovative ideas of young talent. Combining education and innovation would blend the old with the new. It would also complement the cultural activities envisaged for redevelopment of Central Police Station.

Expressions of interest in developing the buildings will be called for under guidelines to be set by Create Hong Kong, a new agency dedicated to developing creative industries. The government has already set up the HK$300 million CreateSmart Initiative to fund the development of creative industries outside design and film.

Mrs Lau is also in talks with the Development Bureau, which has recently leased a number of historic buildings to non-governmental groups, to identify other possible sites for creative industry clusters. If she has her way with the police married quarters buildings, this would represent something of a breakthrough.

Hong Kong's arts and design innovators have battled for recognition and government support. Given the city's history as a trading port, manufacturing centre and financial hub, this is not surprising. However, growing interest in the idea that creative industries, fine arts and cultural heritage could drive future economic growth has led to a push for change. But so far it has often amounted to more good intentions than action.

Hong Kong has lagged behind other big cities that have reinvented themselves in this way, but it can learn from them. These cities have revived moribund districts and buildings by encouraging creative talent to move in, through subsidising rents, slashing red tape and taking equity stakes in promising young enterprises.

Mrs Lau rightly recognised that education has a key role to play in developing talent for arts and creativity. A centre for creative science and technology to be set up at the Hong Kong Science Park later this year will target primary and secondary students with demonstrations of innovative applications. It is good to see these efforts to invigorate an important aspect of Hong Kong's development. Blending the history of the married police quarters with commercial creativity is a good example of revitalisation. If such a prime site can be adapted sensitively in this way, it could serve as a model of what can be done with other historic places.

Hong Kong plans survey on intangible cultural heritage: report

HONG KONG, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government planned to launch a survey in the second half of 2009 to identify intangible cultural heritage that is worth preserving, local media reported Saturday.

The heritage items were expected include "the performing arts and traditional craftsmanship," local broadcast RTHK said in a news report, adding that the 18-month survey is being conducted to comply with a United Nations convention.

Hong Kong has been making a greater effort to preserve local historic sites in recent years, as public awareness of local history has been on the rise.

In a recent separate move, the local Antiquities Advisory Board released a list of 1,444 historic sites to ask for public opinions on their proposed gradings.

The sites on the list were selected from more than 8,000 potentially historic sites that has been covered in a survey since the 1990s.

What does it mean?

It's a list of historic monuments. The first graphic shows some Grade I historic buildings, the oldest of which are walled compounds in the New Territories from the 15th century. More recent items include City Hall (1962), Peninsula Hotel (1924-27), old Bank of China (1951), and CLP headquarters in Kowloon (1938-40).

The second graphic shows some downgraded historic buildings. For example, Shing Mun Reservoir was downgraded from grade I to II (less historic), as did some tenement houses on Shanghai Street, a block from Hong Kong's first public housing estate Shek Kip Mei, etc.

Limited public access to site's historic features
30 March 2009
South China Morning Post

Concerns have been raised over public access to various historic features of the former marine police headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui, the conservation and redevelopment of which are entering the final stage.

A source close to the project said most historic architectural features were in private areas, such as hotel rooms, a restaurant, a pub and a shop.

A heritage hall of less than 200 square metres had been built to exhibit aspects of the site's 125-year history and would be open to the public.

The 11,700 square metre site, comprising the main building, a stable block and a signal tower, was granted to a subsidiary of Cheung Kong (Holdings) for 50 years in 2003. It is being redeveloped into a hotel complex and shopping mall.

Scheduled for completion last March, the site is still a job in progress. The developer obtained an occupation permit last month and, the source said, construction was complete and the hotel in the main building was under renovation.

Building plans available for public inspection show the new three-storey commercial block in front of the main building will be connected to the signal tower with a landscaped rooftop garden.

The heritage hall - 196 square metres - is on the first floor of the commercial block, with a media room, washroom and water feature.

The source said architectural features included old fireplaces, a tunnel, a gas street lamp and a stable, but most were in private areas. The fireplaces were in hotel rooms, a restaurant and a two-storey stable. The tunnel was in a shop on Canton Road.

The stable would become a pub, incorporating antique wooden doors. The gas street lamp would feature in the rooftop garden. The granite wall on Canton Road had been moved to Kowloon Park Drive.

The building plan requires the developer to open areas for the public's viewing. But neither the lease nor planning conditions specify how much public open space should be provided, or how.

"In other countries where a lot of heritage sites can be found, people might accept the privatisation of some sites, but the situation in Hong Kong is different," veteran architect Vincent Ng Wing-shun said.

"The public wants them to be more open and accessible."

Civic Party vice-chairman Albert Lai Kwong-tak said the Town Planning Board and the Lands Department had missed the opportunity to ensure there were regulations to keep the site open.

"The heritage site was packaged as a tourism project and championed by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau," he said.

"Now the Development Bureau is in charge of revitalising monuments, which bureau should be responsible for monitoring it?"

Bernard Chan, chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board, said the board would watch the project.

He hoped some hotel rooms could be opened for public appreciation when they were not in use.

Cheung Kong (Holdings) did not reply to the Post's inquiries.

Time for government to address public spaces
5 April 2009
South China Morning Post

Another dispute has flared up about access to public space inside private premises. A trendy gastro pub has been renting out the roof garden of The Pawn, a restored heritage building in Wan Chai. But the Urban Renewal Authority and the government say the roof is actually public space to which everyone should have access, not only pub patrons. The pub, however, has countered that this was not stated clearly on the lease or in the master layout plan, though it is now ready to act in a gentlemanly fashion and allow outsiders to visit.

The latest controversy is all too familiar and again points to the flawed arrangements for public-private space that officials have kept on making for commercial and residential developments. It is time to abandon this deeply flawed model, which is a recipe for disputes and does little to provide genuinely new open space for public use.

On paper, the model makes perfect sense. In return for extra gross floor areas, developers are made responsible for the costs of design and upkeep of open space inside their projects. In practice, companies have every incentive to exploit such open areas and restrict public access. That the government has to release a list of hundreds of places for public enjoyment that are tucked inside private developments shows people are too confused.

Hong Kong needs more open areas for people to relax, eat meals and play with children and pets. The government does not lack money and resources. If it is truly committed to providing a better living environment for its citizens, it should budget and pay for their building and upkeep. Some of the costs may be offset by making owners buy back or rent public areas that are hard to access or are underused.

It should be clear that merging public and private areas creates an inherent conflict of interest for developers and commercial enterprises. The temptation for them to take advantage of the arrangement for profit-making purposes is high. To address the problem, the government should adopt an economic model that allows the public to benefit from open spaces that are truly public in every sense of the word.

HK to hold competition to restore Bruce Lee's home
28 March 2009

HONG KONG (AP) - The Hong Kong government will hold a design competition to restore a former home of late martial arts legend Bruce Lee that has fallen into disrepute.

The two-story house where Lee lived in 1972-73 is currently used as a "love motel," where rooms are rented by the hour and people often carry on affairs. The owner has lobbied to convert it into a museum.

The decision to hold an open competition came late Friday after a meeting between the owner and Hong Kong's commerce and economic development secretary. Both agreed that the best design would be used as the blueprint for restoring the property, the government said.

"The competition would allow the incorporation of suitable design elements to maximize the use of space when restoring the property to its original appearance," a government spokesman said in a statement that did not elaborate on the timeframe or what the winner would get.

Lee, who died in Hong Kong in 1973 at age 32 from swelling of the brain, was born in San Francisco but grew up in Hong Kong.

His credits include "The Chinese Connection," "Enter the Dragon" and "Return of the Dragon."

Officials leave historic military sites to decay Graffiti, weeds and damage by visitors mar fortifications
13 April 2009
South China Morning Post

In the second of a series investigating the shortcomings of the city's heritage conservation, Joyce Ng looks at a category of publicly owned heritage sites that is badly in need of a plan to halt deterioration

Conservation of some military sites that helped shape the city's colonial history has been neglected although they are in the government's hands - with one turned into an outdoor gym and a haven for players of war games.

The fortifications at Devil's Peak near Yau Tong are among 10 military structures that landed on the list of graded historic sites last month.

The grade two site was a critical military point in the second world war, guarding Lei Yue Mun Gap.

The colonial government started building the fortifications in 1900, Anthony Siu Kwok-kin, a military-history researcher, said during a visit to the site with the Post. But it was unused until 1945, when the Japanese seized it for a base from which to bombard and conquer Hong Kong Island.

The site, comprising two batteries, a headquarters and a redoubt, has suffered so much damage over the years that some key features are difficult to identify.

The trench running down from the peak to the pillbox, which once served as a route for retreat, is now filled with weeds and plants.

The redoubt on the hilltop, one of the city's remaining three, has become an "outdoor gym" - with an underground bunker covered by concrete and metal poles erected on the surface by visitors for their morning exercise. Other parts have been defaced with graffiti, enclosed by a wire fence, or turned into flowerpots.

The fortifications are managed by the Lands Department. While some of the damage was caused by visitors, the pouring of concrete was done by the Home Affairs Department a few years ago.

Other military sites in government hands but without conservation include Mount Davis Battery and the Luk Keng pillboxes in the northern New Territories.

An Antiquities and Monuments Office spokeswoman said last week that conservation measures would be formulated for Devil's Peak and other military sites once proposed gradings were confirmed when public consultation ended in July.

Professor Siu, a member of the office's panel for assessing gradings, said it was time for the sites to be protected by a conservation management plan. "It's a good start that these military sites are now recognised for their historic value, but a plan is needed to educate the public."

Information boards and historic photos should be set up, and guides should be trained about the sites' history, he said. "Otherwise, people don't know what they are seeing in these relics."

Military sites in Australia and Canada were run by veterans' groups whose members acted as guides, Dr Siu said, adding the sites charged admission and were closed outside tour hours.

History researcher Ko Tim-keung said the Lei Yue Mun site told of more than the history of the second world war. "European powers scrambled for concessions from China in the late 19th century. It was against this background the British built the fort to guard its colony against Russian and French ambitions," he said.

The site could become a heritage trail like the Lei Yue Mun Barracks on the opposite shore, which had been preserved as part of the Museum of Coastal Defence, he said.

Ability to transfer rights vital to aid preservation, architect says
11 April 2009
South China Morning Post

Architects say it is time to introduce a much-discussed incentive system for owners of listed buildings - which for many represent their only assets.

Transfer of development rights would be the most effective tool to help out many individual owners, the chairman of the Institute of Architects heritage and conservation committee, Eric Lee Chung-ming, said. "Mere grading of heritage without giving owners a way out is useless. Either it will speed up acquisition and demolition, or owners who don't know how to deal with their properties will just leave them to deteriorate."

A grade three townhouse in Sai Ying Pun was a case in point, he said. There was no way to save it from demolition as there was no statutory protection for graded buildings. In such a case, as with other shophouses in Central and Sham Shui Po, where the sites were small, owners should be entitled to sell the development rights to developers.

Those developers would be able to acquire these rights and transfer them to other land they held, with the historic building being kept or partially preserved depending on its heritage value. If developers owned the heritage sites themselves, they should be permitted to transfer the residual building density to other sites they owned.

The mechanism was widely used in the United States, Canada and Taiwan, in contrast to the United Kingdom and Singapore, where public or private heritage trusts were relied on to acquire buildings.

"The transfer mechanism is more suitable for our society, where private property rights are expected to be highly respected and where land has great redevelopment pressure," Mr Lee said. "Acquiring heritage blocks with public money should be a last resort."

The fact that all the city's 86 declared monuments were owned by the government reflected to some extent the absence of incentives for private conservation, he said.

The Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance was placed under review when the Home Affairs Bureau was in charge of heritage policy, which triggered a discussion on the transfer system. But the government had reservations about it because of technical problems. The Development Bureau indicated it would not review the legislation when it took over the policy. "Without legislative changes there will be no long-term heritage policy," Mr Lee said.

Historical building is 'floating' on a timber raft foundation
19 April 2009
South China Morning Post

Currently the home of the Legislative Council, 8 Jackson Road, Central, housed the Supreme Court over seven decades.

The second world war interrupted that: the building was a Japanese military police headquarters between December 1941 and August 1945.

Though it has a well-preserved exterior, the foundation of the building consists of hundreds of Chinese fir tree trunks mixed with reclamation materials. The building is actually "floating" on a timber raft, according to research prepared by the Legislative Council Secretariat.

In 1978 the building was vacated after cracks were found, caused by excavation works for the MTR. It was then closed for repairs until 1984 when the Executive Council declared the exterior of the building a monument, following the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration for the handover of Hong Kong.

The exterior was protected under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance, but the interior was altered many times to increase the number of courts and ancillary rooms, and then before the Legislative Council moved there in 1985.

However, some the building's distinctive internal structures have not changed, although some remain unused. For example an entrance facing Statue Square, which was originally the prisoners' entrance, has not been used since the Legislative Council moved in. Internal staircases and an internal bridge, known as the "Bridge of Sighs", was installed to connect the prisoners' receiving room and cells with courts on the first floor. It is a structure of which many, including present members of the Legislative Council and even senior barrister Sir John Swaine, were unaware.

1881 Heritage by 薰衣草 from dchome :

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3484/3465762637_3f622ecb57_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/3466575708_b874dd18a2_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3570/3465761673_dcede90f24_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3542/3466578306_436b745e59_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3542/3465764051_07763ec5f1_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3662/3465765683_84bdf1bded_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3658/3466581594_b3e87c67ef_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3532/3466582454_007a329393_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3604/3466583222_6a4d530bae_b.jpg

1881 Heritage by 薰衣草 from dchome :

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3484/3465762637_3f622ecb57_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3104/3466575708_b874dd18a2_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3570/3465761673_dcede90f24_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3542/3466578306_436b745e59_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3542/3465764051_07763ec5f1_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3662/3465765683_84bdf1bded_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3658/3466581594_b3e87c67ef_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3532/3466582454_007a329393_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3604/3466583222_6a4d530bae_b.jpg

This looks much better than I expected. Shame that so much of it is taken over by yet more luxury brands... Does HK need more!?

Very pretty. I like it.

Looks great!

Profit tipped for hotel at old police station
29 April 2009
South China Morning Post

The boutique hotel proposed for the old Tai O Police Station is expected to generate a profit in the second year of operation, the hotel's head told lawmakers yesterday.

The police station is one of six historic buildings to be revitalised by non-governmental organisations. The Legislative Council is expected to approve funding of almost HK$65 million for the hotel's renovation this year. The project is to be completed in 2013.

Heritage Conservation Foundation executive director Daryl Ng Win-kong told legislators the hotel was expected to break even after its first year of operation and to generate an annual profit of about HK$600,000 starting from the second year.

"It's hard to recover the huge amount of renovation cost given our limited number of rooms, but we hope the operation cost can be self-sustained," said Mr Ng, an executive director of developer Sino Group.

The hotel will have nine guest rooms and a rooftop restaurant. Each room will cost about HK$1,500 to HK$2,000 a day and the occupancy rate is estimated at about 45 per cent. The annual operating cost will be about HK$4 million.

Responding to lawmakers' concerns about public access to the hotel, Mr Ng said the foundation had set up a committee including historians and district representatives to advise on taking the project forward.

Commissioner for Heritage Jack Chan Jick-chi said three heritage tours would be organised for tourists every day, and the restaurant would open certain areas to the public.

Foundation assistant general manager Una Lau said workshops would be organised for tourists interested in learning about Tai O's history and making local specialties like salted fish and glutinous rice cake. Tai O residents would be trained and paid for leading the workshops.

League of Social Democrats Lawmaker Albert Chan Wai-yip, said the foundation should improve public access by increasing the number of tours. He also said the project should not follow the example of the Marine Police Headquarters revitalisation project in Tsim Sha Tsui, a project criticised for removing greenery.

葉蔭聰﹕和昌大押的真實與仿真
4月20日 星期一 05:05

【明報專訊】和昌大押那個跟大眾「若即若離」的天台，提醒了我，有必要重新閱讀香港這個城市。

從前，在市區坐公車望向窗外，大部分空置了的老房子，很快便會消失，換來新大樓，速度之快，令人有點不真實、不實在的感覺。這是資本快速流動的空間見證，締造了全世界拆卸大樓速度最快的都會。所以，有人說，香港城市特點就是（資本）效率，就是歷史文化痕迹的消褪。有人批評Norman Foster設計的赤鱲角機場大樓太冰冷，沒有地方或歷史感，我記得當時有人為他辯護：這就是香港特色。

近年（或甚至未來），我們這個最不愛歷史的城市，終於有幸多一點歷史氣息。拆房子的速度大概不會減慢太多，但車窗外的風景還是有點不一樣，因為，一幢一幢老房子換了新裝，例如最近多人談起石硤尾的美荷樓、北九龍裁判法院與灣仔的和昌大押等等。

老房子換新裝仍有點不真實

不過，不知為何，換了新裝的老房子，仍然讓人有點不真實、不實在的感覺。

建築物剛刷過油漆，有些加了電梯（如美荷樓），也換了住客，不管是薩凡納設計學院還是青年旅舍，還是和昌大押那家叫「PAWN」的餐廳，歷史的感覺不是沒有，但總覺得怪怪的。更有趣的是，在嗅到油漆味之前，在光顧這些餐飲業與教育產業前，媒體宣傳已一擁而上。上星期在港台 節目《緣來有段故》中，我的目光跟着攝影機鏡頭，除了一睹那個我還捨不得花錢去光顧的和昌大押露台外，還讓我們神遊台山開平的騎樓，發思古之幽情。真實經驗還沒有開始，歷史真實的感覺已洶湧襲來。

真正侵襲過來的不是真實，而是仿真（simulation），是已故後現代理論大師布希亞（Jean Baudrillard）的著名觀念。在重重媒體中介覆蓋下，真實早已隱退消逝。不過，剩下的不是假象，而是無法區分真假的模仿真實，即「超真實」（hyperreality）。你即使掀去層層表象，可以看到的還是表象。和昌大押在復修前露台被封死，掀去附加物後不是還原成當舖，也不是老灣仔，而是高級餐廳的歷史主題。

不知下一代香港人會否把和昌大押與新中環 天星碼頭 混為一談？也許，我們的歷史建築還沒有糟到淪為假古董，不過，它的「真實」，既是直逼眼前的，但卻同時是離我們而去的。有人問，保下來的美荷樓成為青年旅舍後，與石硤尾、深水埗街坊有什麼關係？傳說和昌大押有一個餐廳老闆大發慈悲讓市民可以去「天台」，至於北裁呢？負責審批的活化歷史建築諮詢委員會主席陳智思 說得妙，薩凡納學院願意拿出9000萬作建築修復，香港人應該放心。保護歷史建築的工作，就讓他們去做吧！言下之意，我們管那麼多不是有點多餘麼？

布希亞的理論讀起來太宏觀，他無法回答一個問題：到底「仿真」是如何及為何做出來的？這是個大課題，換一個說法，即城市空間「主題化」（thematization）的趨勢是怎樣跑出來的呢？要解釋它，即使是香港這樣的小地方也不容易。不過，近幾年出現的幾個案例，倒讓我們看到一些端倪。

若單單看發展局這短短不足兩年的歷史，你會看到文化保育工作多少是「逼出來」的，沒有天星皇后碼頭 的抗爭，沒有利東街以至其他社區的運動，很難相信政府的回應會加快，保育工作也不會轉到林鄭月娥 主持的發展局，更不會有陳智思；如果我們接受這叫「進步」，我也無從否認。不過，這裏有一個沒有改變的事實：城市空間，不管是土地或公共建築，仍然牢牢握在政府手上。而過去的運動與抗爭，還沒有根本改變這種權力關係，例如以前的「古物監督」是民政事務局 長何志平 ，今天是林鄭月娥女士。而一切的根本，是要維持以至增進土地及地產價值或潛力（簡稱「地租」）。所以，政府不會隨意把指定古蹟的權力下放，而「活化計劃」亦只會給予政府信得過的機構（連「八和會館」也太冒險），而多年來要求城規會、市建局 的架構，甚至是古物古蹟諮詢委員會民主化，也幾乎毫無寸進。

政府框框下大搞「歷史主題」

民間批評政府勾結商賈，官員總感到很冤枉，因為，他們還是要在沒有大改的制度下辦事，不能威脅地租利益。但他們撫心自問，自己是真心回應公眾對文化保育的期望，兩種不協調的要求如何是好呢？唯一辦法是吸納、挪用積聚了幾十年對本土文化及歷史的意象，清除掉社會或社區活生生的歷史脈絡，在政府設下的框框下大搞「歷史主題」，製造仿真，而這樣也可能最容易讓製造歷史價值，來兌換成地租的增值。所以和昌大押旁有賣得很貴的嘉薈軒 ；至於最經典的莫過於利東街，當日反對拆卸重建的居民，以「啞鈴方案」，即街道兩端建高樓但保存中間唐樓，保育「喜帖街」，但遭城規會及市建局否決。可是，當市建局把房子全推倒後（原來的真實消失了），卻說要在未來的商廈旁，搞個名為「姻園」的主題購物區，這不是仿真是什麼？

未來，除迪士尼 樂園與海洋公園 ，會有大量主題式消閒娛樂（theme entertainment）；和昌大押外，有快將完工的尖沙嘴 水警總部，有接踵而來的「活化計劃」。陸續有來的歷史「超真實」，脫離在地市民的經驗，擺脫社區環境脈絡，它們錯落在仍然急速流動的香港都會，成為香港另一種風景，我無以名之，急需另一套語言去理解。

作者是嶺南大學 文化研究系助理講師

歷史建築清拆圖則獲批
29 April 2009

【明報專訊】發展局於上月公布1444幢歷史建築評級，惟屋宇署同月已批出擬評為三級歷史建築的興漢道19號唐樓的拆卸圖則，以重建31層的住宅和會所；有學者批評，政府對二、三級歷史建築保護不力，即使已評級，部門亦無法理依據和行政手段保存歷史建築。

興漢道19號的業主滿年置業董事李德明向本報指出，暫未能透露重建計劃的日期，被問及是否知道該建築已獲評級，他表示對此沒有回應。興漢道一帶屬5至6層高的住宅，其中興漢道20號已清拆。

發展局：未發施工同意

發展局回應指出，拆卸圖則已於今年3月批出，但屋宇署至今未收到相關施工申請，暫未發出拆卸施工同意。發言人表示，古蹟辦已得悉有關拆卸及重建計劃，當落實擬定評級後，古蹟辦會通知屋宇署有關結果及制訂適切的保育措施。

屋宇署表示，當收到有關項目施工同意書的申請時，署方會諮詢古蹟辦，並會把古蹟辦的意見轉達業主。

身兼古物諮詢委員會及港大建築系文物保護課程主任的李浩然批評，有關機制無助保護已評級建築，「因為根本無法例防止已評級的建築被清拆，即使部門知道，也無任何理據反對或阻止業主重建或拆卸歷史建築」。他表示，新加坡設有保育指引保存歷史建築，若業主違反指引，政府有權拒絕批出規劃申請。

1917年興建 西環拆剩20幢

李浩然指出，雖然建於1917年的興漢道19號擬評為三級歷史建築，但其拱門、窗花、柱等皆具西方古典建築風格，其簡樸設計屬裝飾藝術派（Art Deco），「這是本港1920至1930年代的民居建築，估計西環區只拆剩約20幢」。

林鄭月娥：盼業主協商

發展局長林鄭月娥昨日在立法會發展事務委員會上指出，一及二級歷史建築名單已交予相關部門，而一級歷史建築會作古蹟「後備名單」，若面臨清拆危機便可宣布為暫定古蹟，凍結其發展，「現無看法指每幢三級歷史建築都完全不准拆，但我們也希望業主會和我們商討……希望透過經濟誘因保存」。

Book celebrates Maryknoll's 80 years at heritage-listed campus
1 May 2009
South China Morning Post

Surrounded by lush greenery, the European-styled redbrick building of Maryknoll Convent School is a famous landmark in Kowloon Tong.

Over eight decades, it has been a haven of learning for countless girls, many of whom have blossomed into movers and shakers in Hong Kong.

In celebration of the government's designation of the building as a historic monument last year, the school published a book, Forever be True - The Love and Heritage of Maryknoll, which features photographs of the school and anecdotes written by students and alumni.

Amy Ho Main-wai, the book's editor and vice-chairperson of the Maryknoll Convent School Foundation, said the book was a collaborative venture among students and alumni.

"They wrote about their unforgettable moments on campus and how their alma mater nurtured their life values," she said.

From a reminiscence by former permanent home affairs secretary Shelley Lee Lai-kuen about the assassination of John F. Kennedy to Undersecretary for Financial Services Julia Leung Fung-yee explaining how a disaster was averted by staying on campus, the anecdotes by alumni reveal the deep bond they have with their alma mater.

The 240-page book also features vintage pictures of the school. A print run of more than 2,000 copies was quickly snapped up and the second edition has just been rolled out.

School principal Josephine Lo Tsang Git-ging said they spent more than a year compiling the book.

"Our quest for old photographs took us as far as Maryknoll sisters' house in New York. We also enlisted the help of photographers who took pictures of the campus and students attending lessons today," she said. "There's also a DVD that features interviews with the sisters who have served at the school over the years."

Profile:

Maryknoll Convent School (Primary Section) (Kowloon Tong)

Year of establishment: 1925

Number of students: More than 2,000

School sponsoring body: Maryknoll Convent School Foundation

Medium of instruction: English

Colleges eye government's heritage scheme to satisfy expansion needs
6 May 2009
South China Morning Post

The Academy for Performing Arts and the Institute of Education are eyeing the government's heritage revitalisation scheme as a way of meeting their expansion needs.

Representatives from the two institutions attended a public forum held by the Development Bureau yesterday to brief interested organisations about part two of the scheme to be launched next month.

Academy associate director Philip Soden said he wanted to know about the eligibility of the institution, as a government-subsidised body, to take part in the scheme, which is aimed at NGOs. "At this stage we're not contemplating applying for any of the buildings currently on offer, but we remain interested to see what may become available in future," Mr Soden said after the forum.

An academy spokeswoman said later that the school needed more space because its Wan Chai campus was too small for its more than 4,000 full-time and part-time students.

Among its needs was a building with more headroom for its dance school and one that could readily be fitted with acoustic installations for the music school.

The academy already has an interest in built heritage, having transformed the former French Mission building Bethanie in Pok Fu Lam into a school of film and television in 2007.

Michael Robinson, Institute of Education librarian and director of its museum of education, said the institute wanted to study the feasibility of using the scheme for its off-campus expansion plan. He did not say which building it was interested in.

The scheme will soon release a second batch of heritage buildings after six historic buildings were leased to NGOs for revitalisation. Officials said at the forum they would give more help to participants in compiling a financial plan, the toughest and most poorly done part in the last round of applications.

Charles Chan Chi-kong of the Young Women's Christian Association urged officials to allow participants more time to seek professionals' help, as "we do not have in-house ones as developers or hotel operators do". The YWCA was beaten by an NGO set up by developer Sino Land in bidding for the Old Tai O Police Station.

Five historic buildings have been earmarked for the second batch, including the Blue House cluster in Wan Chai, the former Fanling Magistracy, the stone houses of Kowloon City's Hau Wong Temple New Village, Old Tai Po Police Station, and the Old House at Wong Uk Village in Sha Tin, the only declared monument to be put into the scheme.

Owners raise the roof at The Pawn after reaching deal on terrace
8 May 2009
South China Morning Post

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/20070623/IMG_5561.jpg

Despite the recent wrangling about the third-floor terrace being public space, the three proprietors of The Pawn decided to host a grand private dinner at the Wan Chai venue on Wednesday night, followed by a party that spread out over the entire building, to celebrate the establishment's first anniversary.

It's been a headache for Press Room Group partners Arnold Wong (left), Paulo Pong Kin-yee and Alan Lo to sort out with the Urban Renewal Authority the legalese and operating rights of the old Johnston Road heritage building, which they have turned into a hip British pub food restaurant and bar. But Wednesday's bash was an unabashed success.

"It's all been sorted out," Mr Pong said. "It's now a sort of private-public space. It's open to the public from 9am to 6pm each day, but at night it's available for booking {hellip} Working with the government isn't easy. It's just one of those things where, because it's a heritage site, they had to have some public access space." And Mr Wong said members of the public don't always treat the space with respect. "Every day, there are these guys and old ladies who go up there to eat their lunch, and then they just toss their takeout boxes and garbage everywhere, which our staff then have to go clean up. Who does that benefit?"

Five bishops reburied in `family house'
29 May 2009
Hong Kong Standard

Five bishops who served and died in Hong Kong have been exhumed and reburied in a special crypt built at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral on Caine Road.

The cathedral had to seek special permission for the project since it is a Grade I historic building built in 1888.

The crypt was completed recently and a ceremony marking the new resting place for the five bishops was held in March, led by Bishop John Tong Hon.

The idea for the crypt had come from just-retired Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun who saw it as a symbolic move to inherit the teachings of previous generations in order to inspire future ones, said Father Thomas Law Kwok-fai, chairman of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocesan Liturgy Commission.

``It's respect to ancestors. It can also help us to inspire future actions,'' Law told Sing Tao Daily, a sister publication of The Standard.

``The cathedral is the center of the diocese. This idea is similar to the family house in Chinese tradition.''

The five bishops were Timoleone Raimondi, Dominic Pozzoni, Enrico Valtorta, Francis Hsu Chen-ping and Peter Lei Wang-kei. The remains of Bishop Lorenzo Bianchi and Cardinal John Wu Cheng-chung, who spent years serving Hong Kong, will be moved to the crypt later.

Bianchi was buried in Milan. The diocese has applied to get back a part of his remains and received a positive response, Law said.

Anna Kwong Sum-yee, an architect who assisted in designing the crypt, said the work needed approval from the Buildings Department.

She said its location was below an ancient altar, which was removed and relocated piece by piece to avoid any damage.

The cathedral is ranked eighth in the latest list of Grade I historic buildings, according to the Antiquities and Monuments Office.

Bid to sell mansion parts criticised
4 June 2009
South China Morning Post

The public should ignore an online offer to sell parts detached from the historic King Yin Lei mansion for millions of dollars, the Development Bureau says.

The internet sale was posted by a contractor hired to deface the Stubbs Road mansion two years ago. The bureau urged the contractor, Leung Tao-hang, to donate the parts to help restore the monument.

It also maintained that no public money would be spent to buy the parts. "Although recovery of the parts of the King Yin Lei may assist the comprehensive restoration works, we consider the principle and spirit of heritage conservation should not be compromised," a spokesman said.

"We strongly disagree with any public trading of those parts {hellip} as this would have an undesirable effect on our heritage work in future."

Mr Leung, who took the parts before the mansion was declared a monument, said he would soon "destroy the items in public", criticising officials for failing to take responsibility. "If they won't buy it, so be it. I'm only a small contractor, I've done my best to preserve the materials for you," he said.

He offered on the Yahoo auction website last week to sell about 100 wooden doors, window frames and screens for HK$5 million.

Yahoo cancelled his auction yesterday because he posted his mobile-phone number, which would have allowed buyers and sellers to trade offline and leave no correspondence online - a necessary measure for police to investigate transactions.

The bureau spokesman said representatives of the mansion's former owner had met Mr Leung several times but reached no agreement. He said the parts "have a relatively short history" and should not significantly affect the heritage value.

Young form the vanguard in bid to save the past
10 June 2009
The Standard

As chairman of the advisory committee on the revitalization of historic buildings, I have had to help make some difficult and controversial decisions _ like which applicant should be allowed to reuse the former North Kowloon courthouse.

Some other recent decisions were also difficult, for instance, choosing the winners of a children's art competition.

The children -divided into junior and senior age groups - were asked to paint either Liu Man Shek Tong ancestral hall in Sheung Shui or the old Central police station on Hollywood Road.

The four best paintings from each group have been made into postcards, of which about 300,000 will be sent to all 1,372 primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong.

It was a tough choosing the winners because many of our children have real talent.

We laid out hundreds of entries on the floor and on walls for judging. Some of them captured the character of the buildings through draftsmanship and attention to detail, while others interpreted the shapes and colours in eye- catching ways.

The postcards will also be posted free to local, mainland, and overseas recipients to mark National Cultural Heritage Day.

It is only in the last few years that interest in Hong Kong's heritage has caught the interest of the general community, and it is mostly young people, rather than older folk who are more keen to preserve our heritage.

Hopefully, the cards will encourage students to think a bit about our heritage and maybe inspire them to get into art.

Bernard Charnwut Chan, chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board, sees culture from all perspectives.

Renovation of magistracy building to start in autumn
13 June 2009
South China Morning Post

The renovation of the former North Kowloon Magistracy building is expected to begin in the autumn and will make as few changes as possible to the structure, says an expert with the American arts college that was awarded tenancy of the historic building.

Savannah College of Art and Design's preservation specialist Bob Dickensheets, who moved to Hong Kong two months ago, said the heritage impact assessment of the building had begun and he expected it to be completed soon. The college will open next year.

Mr Dickensheets said the assessment would lay down specifications on meeting Development Bureau requirements, and give suggestions "on ways to keep history alive". After the assessment was completed and followed by other studies, including those on engineering and fire safety, the college would be given approval to start the renovation project in October, he said.

The renovation would go through the same procedures that applied to similar projects in Hong Kong, he said, including going through the Antiquities and Monuments Office and Antiquities Advisory Board, and would be completed before the college opened.

The college has earned a reputation for conservation through restoring more than 70 historic buildings for its campuses in the United States and France.

Mr Dickensheets expected the former court building to be less complicated than work on much older buildings, adding that the building had been well maintained and was in good condition.

Despite the need to convert the building to house eight computer laboratories, 14 classrooms, three studios, a darkroom, a small workshop, gallery space, a library and administrative offices, Mr Dickensheets said as few changes as possible would be made. Items such as seats, benches and tables would be preserved, he said. When building a studio, instead of knocking down or damaging the walls, a curtain made of soundproofing materials would be placed around the walls.

As China destroys its culture, Hong Kong proves that its people care
To those in power in Beijing, demolition is potency and rebuilding is glory.
But don't assume this is a national view
29 May 2009
The Guardian

The west's admiration for China's rush for wealth is becoming like the left's interwar praise for Stalin's Soviet Union. It is a triumph of materialism over humanity. If there is one place on earth I have long wanted to visit, it is old Kashgar, fulcrum of the silk road, Peter Fleming's "oasis of civilisation" hovering between the Pamir mountains and the Taklamakan desert. It was used for the Afghan movie The Kite Runner, Nato having rendered the real location, Kabul, too dangerous for filming. Now the old city is to be systematically demolished. The steamroller of destruction that is China's rush for wealth is claiming yet another casualty for world culture.

Reports from Beijing indicate that 65,000 houses, dating in layers back over two millennia, are decrepit and at risk from earthquakes. They will be cleared and their native Uighur inhabitants forcibly removed from the maze of alleys, mud-brick walls, courtyard houses and 40 mosques to new estates five miles from the city. Already the city walls and moat have gone. Now the old city itself is coming down, with only a zone to be rebuilt "in Uighur style" for the million tourists who visit Kashgar in search of silk road romance. They will be shown what a local official calls "an international heritage scenery".

Kashgar was deliberately omitted from Beijing's list of candidates for world heritage status. As in Tibet's Lhasa, Han Chinese are expected to replace the original Uighur citizens in the new city. The message is that minorities will not only have their political aspirations repressed but their cultural inheritance wiped out as well. The Washington Post quoted a bold Beijing architectural professor, Wu Dianting, to commend the old mud buildings of Kashgar and warn that "if they are torn down their affiliated culture is destroyed".

Western lobbyists rightly championed civil rights in China during the brief (and mostly sycophantic) period of the Olympics, to scant obvious effect. It is tempting to say that civil rights command headlines, but cultural heritage - where foreign pressure can sometimes shame a regime into caution - goes by the board. The monuments of the silk road, their oases, caravanserais, bazaars and towns, were not just memorials of old Asia but of Europe and Asia combined, a true entrepot of civilisations.

Visiting Chengdu in Sichuan in 1982, I was taken to see how the authorities were bulldozing the last remaining sector of "rice-paper houses", an ancient area of delicate overhanging properties and courts with persimmon-lined streets, kept immaculate by residents for whom house and communal street were one living space. Desperate people were frantically packing their belongings in advance of the invader.

I pathetically pleaded with my guides to stop, if only because they were destroying what would one day be a tourist jewel of the city. They seemed utterly mystified, as might Romania's dictator, Ceausescu, to pleas for the salvation of old Bucharest or, I suppose, the Greater London Council to pleas to save Covent Garden. To those in power, old is always past and new is always good. Demolition is potency and rebuilding is glory.

To prepare for the obscenity of extravagant chauvinism that is the Olympics, the Chinese promised the International Olympic Committee that they would spend $30bn redesigning an entire quarter of Beijing and build a dozen pavilions and a new thoroughfare, Jinbao Avenue. The avenue alone consumed 55 acres and evaporated the homes of 2,100 families.

According to the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, some 1.25 million people were evicted to make way for the 2008 Olympics, a devastation chronicled in Michael Meyer's moving new book, The Last Days of Old Beijing. This astonishing clearance was bigger even than Mao's extension of Tiananmen Square to create a desert of tarmac for the ritual glorification of his regime. Tony Blair viewed the Olympics in much the same light.

The common accusation from those who shrug shoulders at the overseas destruction of historic buildings is that it reflects a civilisation that does not care. Commenting on the cultural poverty of Hong Kong, the writer Jan Morris could dismiss it as a "dismally philistine colony". Chinese people are charged not only with a lack of concern for human rights but with a dismissive view of their past. They care nothing for art.

This may be true of all societies at some time in their emergence from poverty. Yet it is one thing to want one's house repaired, plumbed and electrified, quite another to see superior authority arrive with a bulldozer and architect in tow and, without a word, destroy house, neighbourhood and civic identity in one fell swoop.

I have never believed that Chinese people are any different from others in their concern for the past. Westerners just say so. Much of the campaign to draw attention to the fate of Kashgar has been led by conservationists in Beijing, whose safety I respect by not naming them. But it is noticeable that in the freer climate of Hong Kong it is Chinese who are teaching a lesson in heritage to the British who so shockingly ignored it when ruling the place.

Long ago I pleaded with such Hong Kong governors as Sir David Wilson and Lord Patten that, if they bequeathed nothing else, at least install the British law protecting historic buildings without compensation. Each told me that there was no point. The Chinese cared only for money and would overturn any such designation for corrupt profit.

Two weeks ago I visited heritage sites in Hong Kong now being meticulously protected by the local Chinese government - including such relics of British rule as the central prison, the Tai O police station and Kowloon magistrates court. Old shop-houses and early council flats are being restored for new uses. The dynamic development secretary, Connie Lam, has heritage in her official title and declares emphatically that heritage, tourism and development are of the same coin. Where in Britain will you see that?

Most remarkable is the central police station, a great colonial survival left derelict and doomed by Britain. This rambling warren of barracks, cells, prisons and courtyards lies in the shadow of mighty skyscrapers as if abandoned overnight. Giant woks lie idle in the kitchens. Rows of plastic scissors adorn the wall in the women's prison workshop. Racks mourn for their rifles, stables for their horses. Trees still shade the parade ground.

The council houses are to be youth hostels, and Kowloon magistracy an American college. Plans are afoot to reopen the central police station as possibly a museum, hotel or apartments. What the British would have demolished, as they tore down the Victoria Barracks and the Repulse Bay Hotel, the Chinese are trying to save.

Sensitivity to the past is not some western foible, nor is it a barrier to economic growth. It is a response to what should be the civilising force of wealth and, in a leisure economy, a source of further wealth. Thousands of Hong Kong people demonstrated against the demolition of the old Star ferry terminal. They can be sure to support the saving of what few relics of the colonial past remain. It is not the right culture these places need, just the right politics.

Saving heritage buildings requires mix of solutions
17 June 2009
South China Morning Post

As Hong Kong's streetscape and characteristic buildings get swallowed up by concrete and glass, some people are looking for ways to preserve the city's cultural heritage.

The government maintains a list of hundreds of "graded" heritage buildings in three classifications, although only a few (those that are declared "monuments" or "proposed monuments") are actually protected.

Grade 1 heritage buildings may be declared "proposed monuments" on an emergency basis to prevent irreparable destruction, and the government has taken this step for the King Yin Lei Mansion on Stubbs Road. But it is not required to protect every graded building that is threatened with destruction.

When monument or proposed monument status is conferred on a site, a compensation process begins and the government will generally become responsible for the monument's upkeep. This naturally dampens its enthusiasm to award monument status.

The government also has to find a use for the buildings it protects and preservationists must acknowledge that there is a limit to the number of small museums and organisations that can be housed in old buildings in a relatively unrenovated state. Many heritage buildings can be best protected, at least in part, by remaining in private hands and incorporating changes that preserve key features.

One solution is to require current owners to preserve graded heritage buildings to preservation standards to be set by the government. But many owners are not wealthy, and it seems unfair to ask them to bear the whole financial burden of cultural preservation for the benefit of all of us.

Other cities have found a way to preserve historic buildings by selling "air rights" without spending huge enormous public funds or depriving owners of substantially all the development value in their property.

There are lessons for Hong Kong in this practice, but it has to be adapted to the city's peculiar real estate framework.

The idea of selling "air rights" comes from a Roman concept that "to whoever owns the land shall belong the earth to its centre and up to the heavens".

The principle has been limited in modern legal systems. Often, the state retains the right to all minerals underground, as in China. Similarly, so that airplanes are not "trespassing" as they pass over every house, most governments have appropriated to themselves all aviation rights.

Height restrictions in zoning laws also cut into the ancient concept of land ownership, and common law courts, including those in Hong Kong, have held that imposing height restrictions does not require governments to pay compensation unless the property owner is deprived of substantially all use value of his property.

Railways in the United States first noticed the value of the airspace over their land. They sold rights to build buildings over railway tracks - most infamously to New Yorkers, the PanAm Building (now the Metlife Building) that was built next to Grand Central Station and "ruined" the vista up Park Avenue.

Later, the imposition of height restrictions in zoning laws stimulated the expansion of the "selling air" concept into a heritage preservation tool: local governments allowed owners of recognised heritage buildings to sell their "rights" to build up to the maximum height restriction to the developers of neighbourhood buildings who would then be given a height-restriction variance and be permitted to build higher than the zoning plan would otherwise have allowed.

As part of the transaction, the owner of the heritage building is required to preserve it, either by the terms of a heritage preservation law or by special covenants.

Funds from selling development rights both compensate the owner for forgoing a development opportunity and finance the owner's restoration or preservation obligations. The development rights can only be sold once, but this is considered fair as future owners will buy knowing that there is no development potential and will price the transaction accordingly.

Clearly, the existence of transferable air rights is closely connected to height restrictions in zoning plans. The concept makes no sense where building heights are unrestricted, as a developer will not pay for "air" it already owns.

A second requirement is a heritage preservation law. The ability to transfer air rights must be closely tied to preservation undertakings: the object will be defeated if the owner is permitted to sell the air rights then goes ahead and damages or replaces the heritage building.

Hong Kong increasingly has zoning plans with height restrictions. It does not, however, have the second necessary component: a heritage preservation law that protects all graded buildings and establishes processes for allowing necessary modifications to them.

Because of Hong Kong's land-use system, owners of heritage buildings may not have "air rights" (or other "rights" to develop), so the government will have to take steps to create them.

A fair system may award a minimum "air right" to every building that is given heritage status, perhaps allocating more rights to higher-graded heritage buildings. In Hong Kong, the nearest equivalent to an "air right" is a right to develop a certain amount of gross floor area.

The other piece of the puzzle is that developers have to buy the development rights and the government has to issue variances from development restrictions on non-heritage lots to allow them to use the rights. The idea of granting developers "excess gross floor area" in exchange for creating social benefits is not new to Hong Kong.

The model that has been used for "green building features" and "public areas", whereby a developer who undertakes to provide these features is awarded additional gross floor area can be adapted to preservation. Here, however, the developer will be required to buy the excess gross floor area instead of obtaining it for free, and the money will compensate owners of heritage buildings for preserving their buildings and forgoing redevelopment.

Clearly, this model, although self-funding, is not without public cost. The government must forgo the revenue it can achieve by selling the development rights itself. But if preservation of our heritage is a public good, it is appropriate that the cost be shared among all of us.

Next week's continuation of this two-part article considers how to make this solution to Hong Kong's preservation conundrum work for all stakeholders.

Fiona Connell is a consultant of Minter Ellison Lawyers

US arts college eager to hire locals American institution seeks to employ Hongkongers on staff of 60
13 June 2009
South China Morning Post

The American arts college awarded tenancy of the historic North Kowloon Magistracy says it hopes to recruit local teaching and administrative staff for the opening of its first Asian branch next autumn.

Savannah College of Art and Design, which will convert the historic building into a campus for its Hong Kong branch, will begin with about 60 staff members, including 25 faculty members, college senior management said.

Savannah chief academic officer Tom Fischer said recruitment of teaching staff had not yet begun, but faculty members at campuses in Savannah and Atlanta in the US, and Lacoste in the south of France had expressed overwhelming interest in teaching in Hong Kong.

"Hong Kong is a great attraction because everyone knows that Hong Kong is looking into developing a creative economy," Mr Fischer said, adding that many teaching staff members had previously worked in Hong Kong and hoped to return.

Mr Fischer said that once the curriculum was approved by the Education and Manpower Bureau, the college would officially begin a search for teaching staff, and it was hoped some would be found in Hong Kong.

He said the Hong Kong curriculum would match those at other campuses. He said cultural factors would be important and that staff with Asian backgrounds, particularly those with a good knowledge of Hong Kong, would be welcome.

Savannah executive director of strategic initiatives John Rowan said a ratio between local and overseas staff members had yet to be set, but he hoped there would be as many Hong Kong members of staff as possible.

During its first year, the Savannah College of Art and Design will offer eight majors: animation; advertising design; graphic design; illustration; interactive design and game development; motion media design; photography; and visual effects. The college will also offer sound design as a minor.

Mr Fischer said recruitment of students had not begun, but he expected the numbers would be relatively small, with class sizes no larger than 20. He was confident that the college would attract students from throughout the region as the majority of the college's international students, accounting for more than 20 per cent of its graduate programmes, were north Asians.

He expected that other than traditional courses such as graphic design, digital media-related courses would be popular.

"The future of animation and film is not in Hollywood but here," Mr Fischer said, adding it was hoped that such courses would prepare students to enter the movie industry.

He said students' works were promoted through events such as the college's first community photo exhibition, Silver & Ink, of creations from the past academic year, which would end at the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre in Shek Kip Mei on June 21.

Overseas students will have to rent their own accommodation rather than live on campus during the first years of the Hong Kong college. Mr Rowan said the college would help students find budget apartments if required.

Future possibilities included collaboration with nearby Mei Ho House, which could become a Youth Hostels Association lodging under the revitalisation scheme. But nothing had been decided.

The awarding of a historic building to a foreign institute stirred controversy when the news was announced in February.

Mr Rowan said that since the college had registered as a non-profit-making NGO, its operation would be monitored just like other non-governmental organisations. Tuition fees at the college would be US$27,000.

Concern at delays, changes to project on historic site
District council, antiquities board kept in dark on progress
14 April 2009
South China Morning Post

In the third of a series investigating the shortcomings of the city's heritage preservation, Joyce Ng checks progress on a historic site controversially granted in 2005 to a private organisation, which has been criticised for delays and a lack of transparency

The community remains in the dark about progress on refurbishing the remnants of Victoria Barracks, a half-year after it was supposed to have opened and about six months before the revised opening date.

Critics say the situation of the former explosives magazine site in Admiralty shows that standard measures are needed to monitor heritage sites handed over to private bodies for long-term use.

The grade-one-listed building was granted without a tender procedure to the Asia Society Hong Kong Centre in 2005 for 21 years to develop a museum, lecture hall and performance venue.

The land lease required it to open in September last year, but the centre won permission to postpone the opening to September this year.

Although work has started, the master layout plan is not yet available for public inspection because it was amended by the society late last year and is awaiting approval by the Lands Department. Even antiquities advisers and the local district council are in the dark.

A department spokeswoman said it would continue to monitor construction progress, and might consider a further extension if work progress was satisfactory. It would not penalise the non-governmental organisation for the delay.

In reply to questions from the Post, the centre's interim executive director, Lo Li-ping, said the delay was due to major design changes.

These included modifications to a footbridge to preserve a green belt and a population of bats, and a decision to place mechanical equipment underground to preserve buildings. Termites and the discovery of four cannons added to the workload.

She said a consultation group would be formed closer to the soft opening in the third or fourth quarter of this year. It would meet the Central and Western district council annually to advise on public participation in activities at the centre.

The government was criticised for lacking transparency when it handed over the 7,800 square metre site - on Justice Drive, near the British consulate - to the society for HK$1,000.

Antiquities Advisory Board member Ng Cho-nam said the board had been told nothing about progress since the site was granted.

"The government has the duty to inform us, and there should be plans to show us how they changed the plan," Dr Ng said.

Members of the Central and Western district council also complain they have not heard details of any changes.

"I wonder why it has not opened and how the building plan has been changed. They need to talk to us," council vice-chairman Stephen Chan Chit-kwai said.

Councillor and lawmaker Kam Nai-wai, of the Democratic Party, said the government, when granting heritage sites for more than 10 years, should require annual financial and conservation reports, and a management committee, to ensure projects were properly monitored.

Civic Party leader Audrey Eu Yuet-mee said the government should lay down all conditions in the lease, including an enforcement procedure for delays.

Public heritage sites allocated on a long-term basis or due to be allocated soon include Haw Par Mansion for a wine business; the King Yin Lei mansion in Stubbs Road for a commercial venture; the former police married quarters on Hollywood Road for creative industries; and the Central Police Station compound, already handed over to the Jockey Club.

The Asia Society was founded in the United States in 1956 to bridge American and Asian culture. It has extensive international connections with political and business figures, with Hang Lung Group chairman Ronnie Chan Chi-chung as vice-chairman of its board.

Opinion : Tsang has selective memory when it comes to heritage sites
8 July 2009
South China Morning Post

In a speech last month at the Foreign Correspondents' Club, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said that, as a child, historic parts of Central had been his "backyard" playground.

He omitted to mention that this backyard is vanishing.

Mr Tsang talked fondly about the Hollywood Road police quarters and Central Police Station, but made no mention of Graham Street Market and Staunton Street, historic pockets of old Central which now face the Urban Renewal Authority's wrecking ball. These old neighbourhoods will become high-rise towers and fake old streets. And what about the Star Ferry clock tower, so widely loved by Hong Kong people? It was destroyed on the chief executive's orders 2½ years ago.

When asked by John Batten, a convener of the Central and Western Concern Group, why these places cannot be saved, Mr Tsang said they had to be redeveloped and revitalised.

The Graham Street Market has been extremely vibrant, affected only by the URA's property resumption which took away the residents who used to be the market's key customers. The market continues to serve many people who live in the surrounding areas and those who shop after work in Central. But Mr Tsang does not feel there is a problem when he approves a plan for four gigantic towers to be built on top of the market.

Historic parts of the city need special care so their original flavour and ambience are preserved. A conservation project requires sensitivity on the part of those in charge to preserve the soul of the place. Unfortunately, our government still has not managed to grasp this.

A price tag is put on every possible space in our city. When the government and the URA talk about their redevelopment projects, it is how much they will earn that matters. Look at the Lee Tung Street project ("HK$6b bid wins Wedding Card St", June 24).

I strongly believe there is a better solution for regenerating our historic areas. Many concerned members of the public have spoken and it is time for our government to listen and stop the destruction.

Katty Law, Central

London school has designs on Hong Kong
29 June 2009
The Standard

Renowned London design school Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design will introduce courses in Hong Kong soon, Secretary for Commerce and Economic development Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan said.

Head of School Jane Rapley introduced Lau to the school when she visited London over the weekend to get ideas about developing local creative industries.

``It is essential for artists and designers to have some business sense,'' she told Sing Tao Daily, the sister paper of The Standard.

The school will introduce financial and management master's degree courses in cooperation with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Fashion designers Paul Smith, John Galliano, Stella McCartney, Katharine Hamnett went there.

Lau said Hong Kong can take pride in its initiatives to house creative industries in historic buildings like the Central Police Station Complex and other old industrial buildings.

Lau also visited the high-end Borough Market, which sells fine foods from around the world.

The market is run by a non- government body in buildings which were designed in 1851.

She also visited Channel 4, a TV station which promotes art.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen defended the government's role in promoting what he called six priority industries.

These include creative, educational, medical and environmental fields.

Tsang said a new mindset, approach and a coherent strategy are needed to tackle obstacles that may hinder the development of these industries.

New venues mulled for Sunbeam
9 July 2009
The Standard

A community hall in North Point may be considered as a venue for Cantonese opera performances once the Sunbeam Theatre closes.

The suggestion came as the Legco home affairs panel urged the government to preserve the theater, given its history and role in the development of Cantonese opera.

A Home Affairs Bureau spokeswoman said the authorities had been actively considering alternative venues after the landlord of the Sunbeam premises said he would not sell the property or renew the lease beyond February 2012.

Also under consideration is Chan Shu Kui Community Hall in North Point and a basketball court next to it.

Chan Shu Kui would be acceptable so long as it undergoes some renovations, said Ting Yu, Cantonese Opera Academy of Hong Kong chief executive. ``Cantonese opera troupes may not be rich enough to buy and preserve the Sunbeam Theatre but we also realize some may have reservations on using public money to buy it.''

Despite facilities being available at Ko Shan Theatre and the future West Kowloon Cultural District, Ting said it was necessary to have a Cantonese opera theater on Hong Kong island.

Eastern District Councillor Christopher Chung Shu-kun, a member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, had reservations about preserving the theater. ``I doubt the intention of lawmakers who made such suggestions. It's public money. The theatre only has 37 years of history. Why didn't we preserve Lee Theatre if there are heritage considerations?''

The Democratic Party's Kam Nai-wai, a home affairs panel member, said the government could earn revenue by ``leasing part of the premises'' if it did buy the theater.

Historic buildings consultation to end on July 31
Friday, July 10, 2009
Government Press Release

The public consultation on the proposed gradings of the 1,444 historic buildings will end on July 31.

A spokesman for the Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) today (July 10) urged people to take this opportunity to submit their views on the proposed gradings or provide additional information in relation to any of the historic buildings.

The public consultation started when the list of 1,444 historic buildings was announced on March 19. Consultation sessions with the 18 District Councils organised by the Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) started in June and the AAB has so far met 12 District Councils to collect their views. Another two consultation sessions for the remaining six District Councils will be held in the coming two weeks.

The Antiquities and Monuments Office has received about 250 public submissions on the 1,444 buildings.

"After a preliminary vetting of the submissions and enquiries collected, the Antiquities and Monuments Office will have the information referred to the Expert Panel, which was formed in 2005 to undertake an in-depth assessment of the heritage value of the historic buildings, for review. There is the possibility that grading adjustments and addition of new buildings to the list will be made," the spokesman said.

He said the AAB expected to finalise the grading exercise by the end of this year.

The list of the 1,444 historic buildings along with their photos, brief introductions and assessments are now available on AMO's website at www.amo.gov.hk for public access. Those who wish to access detailed information of these buildings are welcome to approach the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre by calling 2208 4400 to make their requests.

Marine Police HQ Restoration - by horry88 from dchome :

http://www.dchome.net/attachments/day_090713/20090713_148ca75ff8f0477763f8wKq0oUrvpd36.jpg

Gorgeous.

Are they still planning to convert it into a hotel?

Common good: in praise of the urban landscape
14 July 2009
SCMP

The brown leather Chesterfield sits incongruously amid the parked buses, concrete paving and grey metal railings at the Tai Hang bus terminus. In the afternoon heat, a cat stretches over the length of the sofa but after sunset it is where bus drivers and passers-by sit and relax.

This kind of improvised street furniture is what arts writer and heritage activist John Batten calls vernacular or "nonchalant" art, an umbrella term for the everyday objects, street life and informal interventions in public spaces that are close to the heart of this city's character.

"Hong Kong is a place that's open to free expression, which is reflected in the clutter of our public spaces, our footbridges and ferry forecourts," says Batten. "All of these bits of vernacular art and architecture are part of who we are. People overlook [such] simple things. But if you take them away, what are you left with?"

This Saturday, in an attempt to raise awareness about the importance of these "bits of urban vernacular", Batten will explore the unique aesthetic of the city's public spaces with "Hong Kong's Street Art: Signage, Advertising, Architecture and Public Space", a lecture that forms part of the University of Hong Kong's Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities.

As commonplace as market stalls, street art and drying laundry might seem, Batten says they reflect and define Hong Kong's urban identity. Once you start looking, you see it everywhere, he says, and people have made slight adjustments to the environment to benefit others.

"Where I live [in Sheung Wan] there's a long staircase and old people are exhausted when they get to the top. So over the years they've put chairs on the staircase, and they shave down the legs so that the chairs can sit straight on the slope," says Batten. Such impromptu interventions in public spaces are common here, he says. Photographer Tse Ming-chong, whose work often deals with the urban landscape, agrees that Hongkongers have a particularly close relationship with the city's public spaces, something he has often captured in his images.

"Because there are so many people living here and houses are small, I see a lot of people converting public space into their own private space," he says.

"People are doing intimate things in public spaces. When you put a chair in a public area, that converts it into a more private environment, which leads to closer relationships than you would expect in public. That's one very strong aspect of life in Hong Kong, especially compared to Europe or the US."

Adapted from a slide show that he often shows as a guest lecturer to students at the Hong Kong Art School, Batten's presentation at the University of Hong Kong focuses on everything from pawn shop signs to graffiti.

Batten says much of Hong Kong's vernacular art has emerged from the way that people have adapted to the city's "often brutal" landscape.

Residents and shop owners on the treeless streets of Sheung Wan and Sai Ying Pun, for instance, compensate for the lack of greenery by putting their own potted plants on the pavement.

Throughout the city, barbers, watch repairmen and booksellers work out of tiny stalls in alleyways. Pointing to a photo of a doorway in the Wan Chai street market that has been transformed into a makeshift fruit stand, Batten says: "You can do whatever you like on these streets. There's no one to stop you." (However, that freedom was challenged yesterday when French graffiti artist Zevs was arrested after "liquidating" a dripping Chanel logo on the facade of the frontage of Chater House's Armani store.)

Another photo shows a produce stand erected in front of an old shop shutter on which laundry is drying. "There's a certain casualness. I love that. There's a beauty there, in the patina on the old folding doors, the baskets of produce."

But it's more than just unconventional beauty - it's an expression of local culture. Graffiti, stickers and stencils are ways that people engage with their environment, says Batten, who points to the lanes around Times Square as being a particularly fertile ground for street art.

Along with paste-ups from prolific artists such as Start from Zero, there are poignant political messages such as the stencil drawing of tanks, accompanied by lyrics from a pop song - "

"This is our heritage," says Howard Chan Pui-hoe, art curator of the Community Museum Project, a non-profit organisation that documents the visual culture of Hong Kong's public life.

"People always find a way to get around all the rules and regulations of public spaces. For example, [in old areas], craftsmen use part of the pavement for their work. Normally, there's a kind of silent agreement between them and the people who use the rest of the pavement. But we don't see this kind of thing happening in newly built housing estates.

"Right now, public space is overregulated. It's being gentrified to an extreme extent."

Indeed, as much as Batten hopes to draw attention to the art of the everyday he worries that many urban renewal projects and property developments neglect the street life that gives Hong Kong its character.

"When a property developer takes over a block of land, they're usually doing something with a podium, where people walk around three or four storeys above street level," he says.

"On the ground level, it becomes a very controlled environment. Now there's just one owner, rather than many owners and individual shops. Suddenly there's nothing there. You'll see security guards and signs saying 'Do not poster'. The consolidation of property in Hong Kong is leading to a degradation of the visual streetscape. We're losing our ground-level happiness."

Chinese-American playwright David Henry Hwang, currently working on a Broadway musical about the life of Bruce Lee, opened the event yesterday with a lecture on interculturalism, identity and the world's perception of the mainland and Chinese men.

Musical highlights include anime theme songs by a Japanese girl group, a performance by the Pembroke College Chapel Choir and a guqin recital.

Live jazz performances will be held every Tuesday evening in HKU's Global Lounge, while traditional Chinese and Korean music will be performed every Wednesday afternoon in the T.T. Tsui Gallery. To round things off in a suitably global manner,

"Cross-Rhythms" will feature a mixture of local and international percussion masters playing Korean, African and fusion music.

Admission is free to all events, but advance registration is required for most.

1881 Heritage
May 1

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0285.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0286.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0291.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0296.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0303.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0301.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0318.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0311.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0322.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0325.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0327.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0328.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0329.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0336.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0340.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0344.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0351.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/hongkong/2009/0501/IMG_0353.jpg

新焦點：卡地亞進駐 1881 Heritage
20 July 2009
文匯報 (香港)

近年，香港的保育議題甚為人關注，最好能在保留古建築物的同時，也達到一定的經濟效益。位於尖沙咀廣東道的1881 Heritage，前身是水警總部，現今已活化為消閒購物的地方，並由多個著名品牌進駐，包括舉世知名的珠寶與腕錶品牌卡地亞。

新店是品牌在港的第9間精品店，雙層複式空間的總面積達720平方米，為中、港、澳面積最大的一間。走進店內，已被店內的氣派及裝潢所吸引，以銅色概念為設計精髓，配合木製的專櫃與水晶燈，感受既舒服也奢華。店內明顯地劃分了多個區域，包括珠寶、腕錶、婚戒及配飾四個展示區，最令人印象深刻的，是浪漫婚戒區，多款珍貴的首飾及婚戒，閃爍地呈現在眼前，配合柔和珍珠白的裝潢及花飾裝置，讓人感受到婚禮的神聖與莊嚴。附近有一螺旋形的樓梯，上達就是售後服務區，由經驗豐富的腕錶師父駐店，萬一有任何修改及遇到機件上的問題，都可快速地獲得維修服務，當然少不得是私人會客區，讓尊貴的顧客有私人的空間，安心選購配襯合適自己的首飾。

卡地亞也帶來09秋冬多款的配飾及精品系列，對於女士們來說，卡地亞的Marcello手袋是因應客人的要求而訂造，今季加入多款驚喜的物料與款式，感覺全新。例如蟒蛇皮配以奶白色小牛皮飾邊的大型手袋、白色小羊皮及長皮毛打造，配以蟒蛇皮手把及飾邊的獨特款手袋，工藝精緻且考究。

男裝首選Pasha皮具系列，今季男裝流行淺啡或駱駝色。卡地亞這系列以駝色柔軟皮革原塊剪裁，並用摺紋熱壓的工藝，以及馬具縫紉細節，看似簡約的公事包，只要看細節及一些紋理就能發現工藝精湛。同系列還有記事簿、日記簿、皮夾和卡片套，均以駝色小牛皮或鱷魚皮打造。

地址：尖沙咀廣東道2號A，1881，G06號舖

Heritage site diggings turn up skeletons
It's not all about cash for one property agent
22 July 2009
South China Morning Post

Heritage 1881, the retail and hotel complex built on the site of the former historic Marine Police headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui has begun attracting a growing number of retailers of upmarket luxury brands to its halls.

But what is left of the "heritage" in Heritage 1881 is open to some question, says Ah Pak.

The redevelopment project triggered strong disapproval from conservationists a few years ago when it emerged that the winning developer, Cheung Kong (Holdings), would level the Tsim Sha Tsui hill and remove several mature trees on the site to build a shopping arcade.

In addition, some of those historic properties that survived were to be occupied by tenants who would have the right to decide whether to allow public visits.

Could the "heritage" value of the site have been better preserved?

Yes, Ah Pak has learned. It seems that Sino Land won top marks in the design category from the government for its proposed development that would have preserved the hill and the trees and left the 120-year-old harbour police headquarters almost as it was.

However, Hong Kong residents had no inkling of the proposal, which never saw the light of day after Cheung Kong gave a bigger lump sum to the government for approval of its project.

Cheung Kong paid HK$325.8 million for a 50-year land grant in May 2003. What motive pops into your mind when you hear that someone has chosen to be a property agent?

士丹頓街申減規模今審議
2009年07月24日(五)
http://the-sun.on.cc/img/logo_tsn.png

為抗衡市建局的收購重建計劃，中區士丹頓街/永利街部分小業主連番向城規會提交規劃申請，建議保留士丹頓街60至66號4幢舊樓，惟規劃署認為，此舉令重建過於零碎，故不支持；另城規會今將審議市建局縮減上述發展項目規模的申請，地積比率較以往降44%，最新為4.5倍，規劃署並不反對。

市建局及部分小業主均就士丹頓街/永利街項目提出申請，前者申請縮減發展規模，擬建3幢6至28層高商住大廈，提供133伙，公眾諮詢期接獲411份反對意見；至於士丹頓街60至66號部分小業主提兩申請，均建議原址保留上述士丹頓街舊樓。
旺角漢普頓售1.4億

規劃署諮詢律政署後認為，小業主有權挑戰市建局的發展建議，惟保留士丹頓街舊樓會令項目過於零碎，故不支持。另界限街170C至F號申請放寬高限至89.47米，但不獲規劃署支持。

土地註冊處資料，市建局斥約1.0783億元，購入觀塘裕華大廈2至5樓其中49個單位及高層地下B舖及C舖。另旺角長沙街11號漢普頓酒店以1.47億元售出。

皇后碼頭的禮物
29 July 2009
香港經濟日報

　　兩年前的 8 月 1 日，皇后碼頭被清拆-在許多反對清拆的聲音中，這些聲音從此壯大起來。兩年後，他們互贈禮物——他們，是曾參與及關心香港本土文化保育的人。他們所保衛的碼頭、街道，雖已煙消雲散，但留下了豐厚的饋贈，而他們又以行動、自己的作品回報這一饋贈。

　　讓我們先回到 6 月 27 日，在兆基創意書院舉辦的「回憶中創造-多媒體詩歌錄影匯演」，可視為一系列紀念行動的先聲，也是對過去兩三年文學、藝術界參與社會保育的成績回顧展。

詩樂悼念

　　在兩年前的行動中，反應最快的文藝作者是詩人和音樂人，而始終同步創作的還有影像人，所以這次匯演也是這三者為主。陳滅、葉輝、璇筠等詩人朗誦了《廢墟碼頭》等詩歌，他們當時都在皇后碼頭，主持或參與過文學沙龍和「廢墟之花-皇后碼頭文化節」的。

　　為詩歌做即興伴奏的，恰是當時保衛碼頭的中堅分子：音樂人黃衍仁、林森和潘志雄。因有共同的回憶和激情，他們的結他和鼓產生的節奏，和讀詩人的節奏起伏拍和，讓人想起曾經的皇后碼頭被維港潮水拍擊的陣陣柔和，以及最後的陣陣憤怒。

　　是日還有年輕獨立樂隊「粉紅 A」的 MV，由麥海珊製作，剪輯出現的是 1968 年她叔叔拍攝的超八菲林維港景象，看得讓人難過！正如「粉紅 A」歌詞所說：「來不及說一聲再見。」

小說狂想

　　李維怡是當天壓軸演出的，她一直是社區保育抗爭的中堅分子，早在碼頭保衛戰之前已經活躍。她以紀錄片製作人的身份在運動中立身，曾拍攝關於利東街的《黃幡翻飛處》；偶爾又以民謠唱作人的身份出來鼓舞發聲；但在今年書展，她的身份回復原初，終於出版了第一本小說結集《行路難》。她小說家的身份一直不多為人知，作品實際涉及了香港本土社區保育的根：我們是怎樣從這些迅速捨棄的「草莽世界」中成長、蛻變為蝶的？如果是這樣，這個被「進步香港」無情碾碎的草根香港，是否含有香港最真正的價值？

　　這些年，書寫涉及社區保育、抗爭主題的香港小說不少，但李維怡的小說最為觸動人，也許是因為她書寫之初，並沒有想著許多主題，而她自己就是主題的一部分，但同時，她又常常「離題」。在小說世界中「離題」是好的，離開愈遠，這世界隨之瀰漫愈大——保育抗爭，不止是保育抗爭者的汗與血；小說耕作，也不止是小說耕作者的汗與血。匯聚連結，發現除了汗與血，我們有更多微笑和狂想，這是取得勝利的最大能源。

不死回饋

　　古代有惜字亭，庇護一切流離的字和紙，當字和紙變成一座亭的時候，它們又轉身來愛惜這個世界。天星、皇后碼頭、利東街……都曾經是培育我們文字和音樂、影像的亭子，現在它們消失了，也許是它們衍生的藝術，該出來建築和保衛的時候。將會在 8 月 1 日皇后碼頭被毀紀念日，正式發布的謝至德攝影集《皇天後土》，就是因此而來的「建築」之一。那天，也將有一場盛大的聚會：由當年保衛碼頭的「本土行動」召集，到時在皇后碼頭遺址除了有「一人一皇后」流動攝影展，展出專業攝影師和市民的皇后影像，還有詩人唸詩、行為藝術表演和說故事，彷彿時光倒流，把人們帶回碼頭尚未變成一堆黃泥廢墟之前的美好時光。這些時光，在謝至德的攝影集便做了一個感情充沛又不失理性的保留。

　　正如梁文道的序言所說：「謝至德不是在拍必死的建築和風景，而是在拍一些『不死』的人。」這攝影集的重心明顯是在參與保衛碼頭的人身上，一張張正視被攝者尊嚴的 4 × 5 大照片，旁邊是他們的獨白：「皇后碼頭最美一刻是甚麼？」而環繞他們前後，皇后碼頭那些樸素的柱子、橫欄，結構出一個開放又安穩的所在。他們一起告訴我們：世界是為每一個普通人而創造的，公共空間給予人「家」的感覺，是一年一年點點滴滴累積而成的，絕非耗資千萬編造的山寨版空間所能取代。這個道理，應該是已逝的碼頭給我們最寶貴的禮物。

Photographer on mission to save Asia’s lost images
29 July 2009
The Saigon Times Daily

HONG KONG - Hong Kong’s colonial architecture and early street life may now have largely vanished, but a new foundation in the city is aiming to revive these bygone times by hunting down a trove of old photographs hidden overseas.

Tens of thousands of rare historical images from Hong Kong and other countries across Asia are now believed to lie buried in the vast collections of universities, libraries and individuals the world over, largely hidden from public view.

“Photos such as these deserve to be given a fresh audience today,?said writer and photographer Edward Stokes who set up the Hong Kong Photographic Heritage Foundation in 2008 to unearth, contextualize and publish such images.

The foundation’s first book “Hong Kong As It Was?features the striking black-and-white images of German photographer Hedda Morrison depicting everyday life in the 1940s.

“Morrison has 60,000 negatives held at Harvard and Cornell. About 10,000 have great historical, cultural and social meaning, yet only about 1,000 of them have ever been seen, have ever been published,?Stokes said.

“They show a Hong Kong so far removed from what we know today; a place struggling with its sway of refugees, its squatter shacks and its early public housing.? Since he accidentally stumbled upon Morrison’s photos in a local university library, Stokes has traveled the world trying to dig up more vanished images.

The foundation’s list of future projects runs long. Apart from reviving the works of a little-known 19th century Chinese photographer, Stokes also plans to publish other forgotten photographs from China, India, Singapore and Malaysia.

?These photographers) set out to record Asia on film, yet despite the quality of their work ... many remain little published today and that surely is a loss today to the place they portray,?Stokes said.

Urbanisation

For Hong Kong, Stoke’s mission carries added poignancy given the city’s rampant urbanization. The recent demolition of the Star Ferry Clock Tower and Queen’s Pier sparked a massive public outcry and forced the city’s leader Donald Tsang to pledge to make it his “personal mission?to improve heritage conservation.

“Are we sacrificing too much for another skyscraper??Tsang asked during a recent speech on the issue.

With many old Hong Kong photos now scattered, some say a solution could be to create a centralized facility similar to the government-funded Hong Kong Film Archive -- where thousands of vintage movies are now stored.

“To a certain extent, it is more convenient to work with a public body status,?said Richie Lam, the archive’s director.

For the likes of Sylvia Ng, the former editor of Hong Kong’s oldest photo magazine “Photo Pictorial,?finding a secure public facility to store the countless images its built up since 1964 hasn’t been easy.

“I really want these photos to have a good home, like how a mother will want her daughter to settle in a good family.? While the Hong Kong Museum of History and other public archives are home to at least 20,000 historical images, these numbers are dwarfed by initiatives elsewhere. In Singapore, around 4.6 million images are stored in its National Archives.

Other experts can’t overemphasize the importance of Hong Kong’s old photographic legacy as a unique testament to its remarkable transformation from a cluster of fishing villages to the teeming metropolis of 7 million people it is today.

“I specialize in the history of the area and they (these photos) fill in a lot of the gaps, in particular albumen photography from the 1860s to the early 1900s. They’re very popular and they’ve literally disappeared,?said Jonathan Wattis, an established dealer in historic maps and images in Hong Kong.

Art deco building another architectural treasure that looks set to bite the dust
2 August 2009
South China Morning Post

Another of the city's architectural gems faces an uncertain future.

The three-storey building has stood proudly in Yik Yam Street, Happy Valley, for more than 70 years, at one stage the centre of a protracted legal tussle. Now its days appear numbered, with a demolition order recently posted on its wall.

But its distinctive architectural style - large balconies and French windows with wrought-iron frames - has attracted the sympathy of heritage-loving Web surfers. One said: "It's a great-looking building. [It] needs a bit of love and attention."

Lee Ho-yin, director of the architectural conservation programme at the University of Hong Kong, who visited the site recently, identified the building as one of the few remaining examples of art deco architecture in the city.

"Such a building style, with terrazzo finishing, was typical in Shanghai and south China, including Hong Kong, and was very popular in the 1930s and 40s," Dr Lee said.

Conservation specialist Angela Ngai said the use of geometric patterns on the outside of the building was characteristic of art deco.

"These features are also rare in Hong Kong," she said, adding that it would be a pity if it were demolished.

Bamboo scaffolding has been erected around the building, which is wrapped in plastic sheeting. The front gate has been removed and workers are busy with tools and welding gear.

A property agent in Yik Yam Street said the owner was renovating the property to rent out. But another agent said he had heard the owner intended to pull it down and build a residential block with two units per floor.

K&W Architects, the firm responsible for the project, would not discuss plans for the building.

The distinctive design aside, the building has had a convoluted past.

It was first acquired by Ng Hop-yick in 1933.

The title was kept in the family until 1978, when Lee Chun-kong, claiming the family owed him money, began to collect rent from tenants of the property.

Mr Lee's chauffeur, Chan Kwok-chun, who collected the money for him for 20 years, somehow acquired ownership of the building by adverse possession - meaning he was considered to have had control of the site for a long period.

Mr Chan then sold the property to Mr Lee for HK$9 million while still collecting rent for himself.

The saga took another twist in 2005 when Mr Lee decided to evict the tenant, Wong Yeung-on.

Mr Wong counterclaimed that he was entitled to the building by adverse possession; he claimed the Ng family had granted the Wongs tenancy "for life" as long as they kept paying rent.

Mr Lee and the Wongs became entangled in a two-year legal battle until the courts ruled in Mr Lee's favour.

Fund-raising bid to help pier activists
4 August 2009
South China Morning Post

Netizens have launched a fund-raising campaign to save two activists who are close to bankruptcy after losing a court case they fought two years ago to preserve the 56-year-old Queen's Pier.

Ho Loy and Chu Hoi-dick, members of the group Local Action, were asked to pay a HK$270,650 legal bill incurred in seeking leave to obtain a judicial review that started in July 2007, which challenged the government's decision against giving monument status to Queen's Pier.

They were told by the Department of Justice last month that their legal aid, only approved a day before the hearing, would not cover the costs involved in earlier legal proceedings. "The amount is unaffordable. Or we would not have applied for legal aid," Mr Chu said.

A fee paid to the government's senior counsel, Benjamin Yue, accounts for more than 70 per cent of the expenses. Other expenses cover eight phone calls, 12 e-mails, preparation of legal documents and photocopying incurred by the government side.

Hundreds of users of the social networking website Facebook have backed the two activists by launching a fund-raising campaign - with each supporter donating at least HK$10.

More than HK$27,000, one-tenth of the legal expenses, was pledged from over 240 netizens on the first day of the campaign yesterday. Supporters only need e-mail the organiser citing the amount they are willing to donate, and do not need to pay immediately.

Mr Chu said the legal aid was given on the grounds that the activists fought for the public interest, and he would write a letter of objection to the Department of Justice with donors' signatures.

"I do not fear being bankrupted. I'm just concerned that people are given a fair chance to challenge the government's decisions," said the freelance writer, who has few savings.

The two activists asked for a costs exemption two years ago but it was denied. At a court hearing in September 2007, Mr Justice Johnson Lam Man-hon said the issues raised in the judicial review were not of sufficient merit for such an exemption.

Research assistant professor Karen Kong of the University of Hong Kong's law faculty said the threshold set by the court was too high.

Associate professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting of the University of Hong Kong's Law Faculty said the activists could ask to pay in instalments to avoid going bankrupt, adding that the government would not want to encourage judicial reviews by exempting legal costs.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said the deadline for paying the cost had not been set since the amount payable had yet to be agreed by the activists.

I recognize the author : ;)
Back to the future
Christopher DeWolf
3 August 2009
SCMP

Then: a row of ornate stone houses graced by balconies and verandas. Now: a car park. The sharp contrast is typical of the then-and-now images posted by Lee Chi-man on photo-sharing website Flickr. For two years, under the alias HK-Man, Lee has taken old photos of Hong Kong street scenes and paired them with new photos shot at the same locations and angles.

Lee's simple juxtapositions highlight the rapid changes in the city over the past century. Its colonial villas and low-rise shophouses have all but disappeared. In recent decades, footpaths have been hemmed in by metal railings and open, cluttered shopfronts glassed-in and tidied up.

"Old Hong Kong had such a special feel," says Lee, a computer animator. "I can't understand how change has come so quickly. It upsets me. The old Hong Kong you see in photos has been destroyed."

Lee is just one of many locals taking their interest in local history and heritage online with blogs, photo-sharing and networking websites. And in the process, they are contributing new histories, memories and insights.

Last month, former computer programmer David Bellis launched Gwulo, a website that he hopes will become a hub for history-related discussion. A spin-off from the popular expatriate website Batgung, it combines regular blog posts with users' photos and information about Hong Kong's past, with places mentioned on the site cross-referenced to online maps.

"It's not just about bringing out the content, it's about revealing the links," Bellis says.

A lot of services let users know when and where a photo was taken, but many people also want information about the buildings, streets and places depicted. Such details are often available in books, library archives and newspaper clippings, but not in a user-friendly online format, he says.

"Our idea is to link everything so if you see people or a place in a photo, you can easily find out more."

As well as scouring official databases for clues on Hong Kong's past, Bellis wants to tap the resources of Gwulo users. He has already had some impressive results. When he began compiling a Google map of tunnels built by the Japanese during their occupation of Hong Kong, he only had four listed. Now there are 25, thanks to exhaustively detailed recollections, photos, maps and reports posted by his readers.

"There's so much stuff locked away inside people's heads," says Bellis. "Instead of keeping it in there, let's open it up."

Jack Tam Wai-kai, who grew up in a Wong Tai Sin squatter settlement in the 1960s and 70s, echoes that message. A creative media graduate, he swaps stories and photos of old Hong Kong on Flickr and Discuss.com.hk, an online forum.

In the past, he says, most Hongkongers were too poor to be concerned about the city around them, so they focused on building better lives for themselves. Now that the city has prospered - often at the expense of its physical and cultural character - "we can only find the old Hong Kong in memories".

His own memories are poignant reminders of the struggle many Hongkongers faced in the decades after the war.

"It was tough growing up in a shantytown. We didn't have two major amenities - toilets and fresh water supply," he recalls. "The public toilets and fresh-water taps were hundreds of metres away from our homes. For kids, everywhere was a toilet. You can imagine that.

"[But] we young kids could also enjoy near-rural lives as we lived near the hills and mountains. We would climb the mountain when the weather was good, go swimming after a heavy downpour, catch insects, beetles and all kinds of wild stuff on the hillside."

Scavenging was the norm for those who lived in squalor. With no sex education in schools, young men in the squatter camps learned about sex from porn magazines dumped in the rubbish heaps outside their houses. Kids would scour filthy nullahs for trinkets dropped by passers-by, "ranging from coins to wedding rings and toy cars", says Tam.

Many people use discussion boards and online groups to share their memories of the past. In a Yahoo group dedicated to wartime Hong Kong, one woman posted her 86-year-old brother's vivid account of finding a live mine on the beach near his house on Cheung Chau. Another contributor, Barbara Anslow, recalls the water shortages prisoners faced in the Japanese detention camp at Stanley.

"[Our] four-room flat was occupied by 25 internees, including a young couple with an infant who lived in the tiny kitchen and a mother with toddler who lived on the little landing between the first and second floors, whose only privacy was an eye-high piece of curtain suspended from the walls," she writes. "Chlorinated drinking water was available from a tap in the courtyard. There was a constant queue all day long in the courtyard for hot water for tea from a couple of small domestic boilers, but you could only get enough for that purpose - never enough for a wash."

But the discussion isn't limited to old memories. Philip Kenny, a stay-at-home dad in Tai Po, uses his blog, Hong Kong Stuff, as a way to explore Hong Kong's more overlooked corners. On Hong Kong War Diary, historian Tony Banham posts detailed accounts of his research, including copies of old photos and letters he has found.

Many heritage enthusiasts hope to make such resources widely accessible. Tam, for instance, often takes photos from government sources such as the websites of the Government Records Service or Hong Kong Public Libraries, which do not allow users to tag them or post comments, and uploads them to Flickr.

Tam and Bellis criticise many official heritage resources for failing to embrace so-called Web 2.0 tools such as commenting and social media functions. While many digital government collections around the world allow users to share and redistribute their content, most of Hong Kong's online archives feature outdated designs that make it hard to even link to an object. The online image catalogue of the Government Records Service hasn't been revised since 2005.

But advocacy organisations have little Web presence either. The Conservancy Association's Peter Li Siu-man admits its website needs work, but says such a revamp isn't a priority, given time and budget constraints.

"Hong Kong is fairly backward about social activism online," says Diane Stormont, who teaches online media at Hong Kong and Baptist universities. The only recent heritage campaign that made use of blogs and social media, she notes, was the fight to save a Central street market from redevelopment.

But even that campaign's website, Savethestreetmarket.com, has been inaccessible for months.

Still, if the growing online interest in heritage is a reflection of greater public awareness, it may only be a matter of time before heritage activism makes itself felt on the Web. Concern is mounting on discussion boards over the plan to relocate the bus terminal at the Star Ferry pier in Tsim Sha Tsui; 1881 Heritage, a nearby luxury shopping mall that was carved out of the old Marine Police Headquarters, is also the subject of angry discussion.

"Collective memory is a great concern these days, as landmarks which marked the success of Hong Kong, and wherein the success of Hong Kong lies, have been vanishing rapidly," says Tam.

"That's why young people are coming out and crying for the conservation of old buildings [such as] Queen's Pier, the Tsim Sha Tsui pier, King Yin Lane and Bruce Lee's old residence."

Although Lee is only in his 30s, he has seen much of the city of his youth disappear. Reclamation has left the waterfront, once his favourite spot to meet friends, a tangle of disjointed development, he says.

"I used to enjoy the wideness of the water. I grew up in Hung Hom and I would go to the old pier to ride my bicycle while my dad fished," he says. "Now the pier has gone and it takes ages just to walk to the new one. The harbour is narrow and there's highways all along the shore. I don't see why we are trading our old street life for new development."

360 submissions received on historic buildings assessment
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Government Press Release

The Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) had received about 360 submissions from the public on the proposed grading of 1,444 historic buildings, a spokesman for AMO said today (August 12).

The public was invited by the Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) in mid-March to give views before the end of July on the proposed grading and provide additional information on those 1,444 historic buildings in Hong Kong.

The concerns expressed by building owners were mainly over the grading implications on their properties and development rights. Some owners suggested that their buildings should be downgraded or taken from the list.

There were also suggestions to upgrade certain historic buildings, such as the Central Market, Shek O Tin Hau Temple, Lei Yue Mun Tin Hau Temple, the shophouses in Shanghai Street, the pill box and stone house in Diamond Hill, and the former Royal Air Force Station Buildings in Kai Tak.

In the case of the Central Market, which is currently a Grade III building, suggestions for a higher grading are based on its social, historical and architectural merits, as well as its rarity and authenticity. As for the Shek O Tin Hau Temple and Lei Yue Mun Tin Hau Temple, views have been expressed that they are landmarks of the areas, having a long history and bearing much social value. As regards the shophouses in Shanghai Street, the pill box and stone house in Diamond Hill, and the former Royal Air Force Station Buildings in Kai Tak, the suggestion for a higher grading is due to their group value and rarity, and being historic structures barely left in their respective districts.

During the consultation period, the AAB met representatives from 17 District Councils and four professional bodies - Hong Kong Institute of Architects, Hong Kong Institute of Landscape Architects, Hong Kong Institute of Planners and Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors to listen to their views.

Based on comments received from the public and owners of those privately-owned historic buildings, AMO will review the preliminary assessment result in consultation with AAB’s Expert Panel, and submit recommendations to the AAB for consideration.

AAB will have more meetings in the next few months to go through all the 1,444 buildings in detail and consider public feedback as well as AMO/Expert Panel’s advice. It is expected that the final results will be available by the end of the year.

The assessment results of the historic buildings and the proposed grading, are available on AMO’s website www.amo.gov.hk/en/aab.php.

Public pressure for status of Central Market to be upgraded
13 August 2009
SCMP

The fate of Central Market will return to the agenda of government heritage advisers after submissions in a public consultation that it should be upgraded and protected.

The grade-three historic building in Des Voeux Road Central, on the government's list of sites for sale, has no legal protection and is subject to commercial redevelopment.

The Antiquities and Monuments Office said yesterday there were public submissions calling for an upgrading of its status, based on its social, historical and architectural merits, plus its rarity and authenticity.

When the site was put on the land sale list in 2006, conditions were laid down to require the purchaser to display items of historical and architectural interest for public viewing.

A spokesman for the Development Bureau said the government had no intention of removing it from the land sale list.

The community has in recent years become more outspoken in campaigning for the preservation of the building. The Institute of Architects conducted a study in 2005, which said the four-storey structure would be the last piece of 1930s Bauhaus architecture in the city after Wan Chai Market was partially demolished for a high-rise. It also said it was the most advanced market in the city when opened in 1939.

Katty Law Ngar-ning, convenor of the Central and Western Concern Group, said it was a magnificent building and should eventually be declared a statutory monument.

"The current grading was made almost 20 years ago and public sentiments have changed drastically in recent years, reflected by strong public call for preservation of the Star Ferry Clock Tower and Queen's Pier. There is an urgent need to reassess the heritage significance of this important public building," she said.

The chairman of the Institute of Architects' heritage and conservation committee, Eric Lee Chung-ming, said the market should be preserved. "It should be given temporary uses to prevent further deterioration," he said.

Kam Nai-wai, Democratic Party district councillor in Central and Western District, said the council had always hoped the market would stay "not only because it is historic, but also it is an important low-rise space in the very dense Central".

The Antiquities Advisory Board will start to review in the next few months all the proposed gradings of the 1,444 historic sites with the 360 public submissions gathered during the consultation.

Some of the submissions came from building owners who requested their properties be downgraded or taken from the heritage list.

Other sites where there have been calls for an upgrade are Tin Hau temples in Shek O and Lei Yue Mun, and shophouses in Shanghai Street which the Urban Renewal Authority is planning to revitalise. Objections were raised against the removal from the heritage list of a stone house in Diamond Hill that stands on the site of a future railway depot.

Opinion : Should the shoeshiners be allowed to stay in Theatre Lane?
21 August 2009
South China Morning Post

I refer to the report "Brush-off for shoeshiners in Theatre Lane revamp" (August 13). I do not want your readers to think that the shoeshiners are being squeezed out of Theatre Lane by the developer of the adjacent property, Luk Hoi Tong.

Luk Hoi Tong has always supported the presence of shoeshiners in that lane. We have peacefully coexisted with the shoeshiners for more than 40 years and consider them to be part of the historic culture of this area.

We support licences being given to the shoeshiners currently occupying Theatre Lane.

However, all issues of public safety must be thoroughly considered before formally setting the terms of the licences.

In accordance with building regulations and general building plans approved by the Buildings Department and Fire Services Department on January 25, 2006, emergency vehicular access is required for Theatre Lane. The developer had to abide by regulations when the new building was planned and designed.

Our letter to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department reminded the department to take the emergency access into consideration when deciding on hawker licences for the shoeshiners.

We did not object to the issuance of hawker licences in the letter or indicate that "shoeshiners should not be located outside [our] building".

For most of the past 50 years, the shoeshiners operated not in the middle of the lane but at the quieter end near Des Voeux Road.

They occasionally came into the Luk Hoi Tong Building for shelter when there was a downpour.

The shoeshiners have told the local media that they wish to operate in a location close to the end of the lane near Des Voeux Road Central.

We hope the department can take note of these views.

Your graphic incorrectly marked the "area now used by shoeshiners". They are in fact stationed in the area that is designated as the emergency vehicular access. This has caused a misunderstanding among some of your readers, including Clement Wong (Talkback, August 17).

Overall, Luk Hoi Tong is confident that the shoeshiners can be given licences to operate in Theatre Lane, and at the same time public-safety concerns with regard to emergency vehicular access can be respected.

This is possible if the government licensing process is carried out in a thoughtful manner.

Lau Chi-keung, project manager, Luk Hoi Tong Co Ltd Redevelopment Project

Group hopes for miracle to save Central Market
The Standard
Tuesday, September 01, 2009

The Central & Western Concern Group is hoping for a miracle to save Central Market.

The group wants to preserve the building - the city's only remaining large Bauhaus-style market built in 1939 - before it is put up for sale.

If the market, located between Jubilee Street and Des Voeux Road Central, is removed from the application list, it would bar the building from sale for the time being. "It will also allow the government to consider how to make good use of it without demolishing it," said Katty Law Ngar-ning of the concern group, adding it is hoping for a heritage impact assessment.

It will also apply to the Town Planning Board to change the use of land to make it impossible to build a commercial building. The market is marked as a Grade III historic building and can be demolished. "The former Hollywood Road Police Married Quarters was on the application list. It was removed from the list after pressure from concern groups. We are hoping for a miracle again," Law said.

Green Sense president Roy Tam Hoi-pong said: "One more 40-story building in the district will ruin Secretary for the Environment Edward Yau Tang- wah's measures to cut emissions to make the air cleaner."

Vincent Au Yeung Wai-hon, whose family worked in the market selling seafood until its closure in 2000, said: "The building has good ventilation and our family never felt hot despite having no air-conditioning in the 80s."

Four more historic sites need sensitive renovation
29 August 2009
South China Morning Post

The government is inviting applications to renovate four other historic buildings - the Old House in Sha Tin, the Stone House in Kowloon City, the Old Tai Po Police Station and the former Fanling Magistracy. Whoever takes on the projects will face the challenge of preserving their architectural style and the ecologically sensitive surroundings of some.

Take the Old House, built in 1911, which is in Wong Uk Village - a typical Chinese village residence that sits on what was once the Sha Tin waterfront. The government has suggested it be turned into a cafe, gallery or activity centre. But it is small - 328 square metres - so facilities such as toilets and a machine room would need to be added. The new structures must be of a scale and style harmonious with the original, guidelines for would-be applicants say.

They should not be so close to the house that they affect appreciation of its facade, and should not be bigger or taller than it. The roof parapet of the house is 8.45 metres high.

Similar restrictions apply to renovation of the Stone House in Kowloon City. The 208 square metre property is in a row of five houses built in the 1940s. It once housed a film studio whose stable of actresses included Josephine Siao Fong-fong and Connie Chan Po-chu.

The Old Tai Po Police Station is next to an important habitat for egrets and herons, and trees identified as old and valuable are on or near the site.

The government says interested organisations should not disturb the area's sensitive ecology. It suggests the former police station be turned into an educational institution, an arts and cultural village, a youth hostel or a holiday camp.

The government also suggests that Fanling Magistracy be used for arts or educational purposes. The biggest of the five buildings on offer, it is expected to be incorporated into an arts and cultural centre the Leisure and Cultural Services Department proposes to build next door. The centre will house a 1,200-seat auditorium to serve the eastern New Territories.

Henry Lo Ka-yu, project manager of Chinese University's Centre for Architectural Heritage Research, warned that applicants for the renovation projects should not repeat the mistakes that were made with the former marine police headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui - which recently opened as an upmarket shopping centre and hotel, Heritage 1881. Any new structures built should be distinguished from the historic buildings and should not overwhelm them, Mr Lo said.

One of the criticisms of Heritage 1881 is that it is hard to tell the historic buildings from new structures built alongside it, which include a three-storey podium housing shops. Critics also faulted developer Cheung Kong (Holdings) for levelling the hill on which the headquarters stood and removing many mature trees on the site in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui.

Heritage Commissioner Jack Chan Jick-chi said there were two options for developing the Old House. Small organisations which might not be able to afford the upkeep of an 8,700-square metre open space in front of the building will be offered the option of taking around 4,000 square metres of it, with the government taking the rest.

Tsang set to free up old factories for artists
31 August 2009
South China Morning Post

Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen is expected to announce steps in his policy address to speed up the reuse of old industrial buildings in districts like Kwai Chung and Tsuen Wan to boost the development of creative industries.

It is one of the measures being considered to develop the arts into one of the six new economic "pillars" to diversify the city's economy.

A government official said that in his October 14 address the chief executive was likely to unveil a series of measures to help convert more rundown or underused industrial buildings to affordable working space for artists.

"Underutilised industrial buildings in districts such as Kwai Chung and Tsuen Wan are possible sites for conversions," the official said.

Another official said the measures would apply to both government and privately owned factories.

The Housing Authority manages eight government factory estates in Kwai Chung, Kowloon Bay, Cheung Sha Wan, Chai Wan, Tuen Mun and Fo Tan, providing a total of 9,300 units.

The Development Bureau is studying possible incentives to encourage the conversion and redevelopment of the buildings, including lowering the land premium.

It might also lower the threshold at which the sale of a building can be forced, from 90 per cent ownership to 80 per cent. A nine-storey industrial building in Shek Kip Mei was transformed into the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre last September to provide affordable working space for the city's artists.

The project, the first of its kind in Hong Kong, was supported by the Baptist University and the club.

The Planning Department is conducting a survey to look at the vacancy rate and possible uses of industrial buildings.

The survey, which is scheduled to be completed in October, covers more than 80,000 units in various districts.

A senior town planner said some projects, such as those setting up design centres and multimedia studios, were already allowed in existing industrial buildings in Tsuen Wan East and Chai Wan Kok without the need to gain Town Planning Board approval.

The planner said the study's preliminary findings showed that some industrial buildings were still in use and converting them would take effort and care.

"For example, industrial operations might pose fire risks to artists and other occupants if they are all in the same building. Sudden change of land use will also bring extra traffic to the district," the planner said.

The other five pillars identified by the government-appointed Task Force on Economic Challenges are education, medical services, environmental industry, innovation and technology, as well as food safety and product testing.

Heritage 1881
Source : http://ecfoto.net/ansonkong/photo_sharing/LSFYDmJkN0p_lUr0ITfwTQ

http://images.ecfoto.net/ansonkong/DiskB1/Galleries/5467/wOkL6PrpPXJFons3TgweMg_S.jpg

http://images.ecfoto.net/ansonkong/DiskB1/Galleries/5467/wOkL6PrpPXIOvq0my9YKPg_S.jpg

http://images.ecfoto.net/ansonkong/DiskB1/Galleries/5467/wOkL6PrpPXJB8.0z8.QPnw_S.jpg

http://images.ecfoto.net/ansonkong/DiskB1/Galleries/5467/wOkL6PrpPXJNuf6ZO5Uebg_S.jpg

http://images.ecfoto.net/ansonkong/DiskB1/Galleries/5467/wOkL6PrpPXJNmiCINYI6gQ_S.jpg

http://images.ecfoto.net/ansonkong/DiskB1/Galleries/5467/wOkL6PrpPXIru82u1O_gNQ_S.jpg

http://images.ecfoto.net/ansonkong/DiskB1/Galleries/5467/wOkL6PrpPXKcJU73Zw9Hnw_S.jpg

http://images.ecfoto.net/ansonkong/DiskB1/Galleries/5467/wOkL6PrpPXKphQ5uAvHzpw_S.jpg

http://images.ecfoto.net/ansonkong/DiskB1/Galleries/5467/wOkL6PrpPXLygKL4oA_r.A_S.jpg

http://images.ecfoto.net/ansonkong/DiskB1/Galleries/5467/wOkL6PrpPXIwG_Gnr_S0NA_S.jpg

http://images.ecfoto.net/ansonkong/DiskB1/Galleries/5467/wOkL6PrpPXL1uF01MCPEzQ_S.jpg

http://images.ecfoto.net/ansonkong/DiskB1/Galleries/5467/wOkL6PrpPXLfEnkuXTAHWQ_S.jpg

Property tycoon disputes heritage value of building
Mid-Levels pre-war building is earmarked for historic status
12 September 2009
South China Morning Post

The head of the city's biggest real estate firm has challenged official plans to award historic status to his Mid-Levels property, a pre-war European-style building.

The house on 44 Conduit Road is described by the Antiquities and Monuments Office as "a rare example of the early Western-style buildings that were once there {hellip} and should therefore be regarded as a valuable piece of heritage" in the light of intensive development in the area.

Shih Wing-ching, chairman of Centaline (Holdings), confirmed yesterday that he had written to the office asking why it had proposed, in a review of 1,444 historic sites, a grade-three status for his building.

"I bought the house not because it was a heritage piece. I got it only to earn rental income," Shih said.

Now dwarfed by apartment towers in the Mid-Levels, the two-storey block was built before the second world war and initially used as living quarters. The block, with a flat roof and a chimney stack, featured neo-classical architecture such as an imitation stone plinth, ornamental apron mouldings under the windows and cornices below the walls, the antiquities office said.

While conduits, lighting and signage on the facade had compromised authenticity, all these features were reversible, the office said. Restoration of the front facade was needed, it added.

But Shih doubted the architectural value of his house, saying that what he found on the internet about neo-classical features were different from what the site showed.

"The historic value is also limited as the public have little memory of it," he said. He did not know when it was built as no occupation permit was available.

The building is leased to a branch of Centaline Property Agency under Shih's group, with the second floor used as a showroom of a new residential estate for sale in the area.

He declined to say whether he had any sale or redevelopment plans for the building.

Shih is among the owners of 10 private properties who have asked for a delisting from the heritage list.

Bernard Chan, chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board, said it would invite Shih and the other owners in the next few months to a meeting, and if necessary a site visit, to clarify their doubts.

Chan also said the antiquities office would soon publicise the detailed grading criteria and reasons for all the 1,444 historic buildings.

"A grade will give the owners benefits, such as grants for repairs and maintenance. And it will not affect your property rights," he said.

Gradings do not grant legal protection to historic sites, but the government would make efforts to negotiate with owners for preservation if they wanted to demolish properties, in particular for grade-one sites.

Thanks a lot. I think it's funny too.
Works great! Thank you for posting this.

FS visits Tsang Tai Uk
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Government Press Release

http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/200909/16/P200909160220_photo_1007751.jpg

http://gia.info.gov.hk/general/200909/16/P200909160220_photo_1007749.jpg

The Financial Secretary, Mr John C Tsang, today (September 16) visited the Tsang Tai Uk to see how maintenance of its ancestral hall was progressing.

Accompanied by the Commissioner for Heritage, Mr Jack Chan, Mr Tsang toured the open courtyard and the ancestral hall of the residence, a Grade I historic building constructed in 1847. The residence is a notable example of a traditional Hakka style walled village house, and it is also the best preserved one in Hong Kong.

During his visit, Mr Tsang was briefed on the progress of the application for financial assistance for restoration of the building's ancestral altar and front hall roof, and the main hall and ritual hall of the ancestral hall. The financial assistance scheme was introduced following the Chief Executive's 2007-08 Policy Address which announced that financial support would be offered to privately owned graded historic buildings in a bid to conserve historical and heritage sites for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations.

Mr Tsang said the application was approved in July this year, with $1 million being granted. The appointment of a consultant for the renovation works would begin soon.

Before ending his visit, Mr Tsang also met representatives of the village to exchange views on preserving the historic building.

Councillors fear historic sites were downgraded to make way for depot
22 September 2009
South China Morning Post

District councillors will confront heritage officials today when they vote on a motion opposing the downgrading of two historic structures in Diamond Hill that may be removed to make way for a large railway depot.

Lam Man-fai - who will table the motion at the Wong Tai Sin District Council when officials from the Commissioner for Heritage's Office pay a visit today - said many councillors were unhappy the three heritage sites in the former Tai Hom village had been left to decay, and two had been downgraded without a reason.

The Antiquities and Monuments Office has proposed that the grade-three Old Stone House - home of actor Qiao Hong in the 1950s and '60s and part of the village that was home to many directors and stars - be removed from the heritage list.

On the other side of the site, a second world war pillbox, or military bunker, faces having its status diminished from grade two to three.

The stone house and the pillbox, together with the former Royal Air Force hangar, which keeps its grade-three status, are all that is left of the village, which was taken over by squatters before being cleared in the late 1990s. Lam said the stone house had been damaged by intruding tree roots and become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. "These three items are almost the only heritage in our district. But officials just fence them up and never come to repair them."

Lam suspected the government was downgrading the buildings to make it easier for the MTR Corporation to clear the site to build the depot for the future Sha Tin-to-Central link.

Just two weeks ago, the Antiquities and Monuments Office said the depot's tracks would encroach on the stone house and the hangar, so in situ preservation was impossible, and it may not be feasible to restore the two after dismantling.

The MTR Corp plans to cover the 7.2-hectare site with a 17-track depot, which will be partly underground for rail maintenance and storage. On top will be a residential and commercial development. An MTR Corp spokeswoman said the three historic structures would be "reprovisioned" but declined to give details.

"After depot construction, they could be moved to somewhere else or returned to where they are."

The company is preparing an environmental impact assessment for the railway and relocation plan.

Wallace Chang Ping-hung, a professor of architecture at Chinese University, said the MTR Corp had never been able to explain to him why the depot had to be so large as to cover the whole site, given there were other depots in Kowloon and Sha Tin.

"It's always the money-and-time argument. Their plan amounts to raping the heritage," he said.

Taking the depot underground and making it smaller might enable the heritage buildings to remain and also reduce noise, but the MTR Corp had told him that would take more time and cost more.

Spongo que preservar las construcciones no solo en Hong Kong sino en todo el orbe ha de ser prioritario para las administraciones locales.

Concern over owners' objections to gradings
24 September 2009
South China Morning Post

Heritage advisers are at a loss on how to deal with building owners who may object or even pose a legal challenge to the historic gradings proposed on their properties.

Antiquities Advisory Board members queried whether they should accept owners' objections to changes to a grading or listing.

Their concerns come as the board is receiving owners' feedback on the proposed gradings of 1,444 historic sites in a heritage review completed earlier this year. So far, 10 owners have asked for a delisting, and there were requests to upgrade 83 buildings and add 92 sites.

Board chairman Bernard Chan said he was confused about the policy when it came to objections.

"Our grade one to three buildings have no legal protection {hellip} Should we agree if owners ask for a downgrade? But then what's the use of this if they can demolish their buildings anyway?" Chan asked.

He urged the government to advise on the matter before the board consolidated the gradings by the end of the year.

Board member Dr Lee Ho-yin said he was worried the board could be sued if it did not accept owners' objections.

An appeal mechanism should be introduced for owners and the public, another board member, Professor Simon Shen Xu-hui, suggested. He said this would be important in such controversial cases as in the Queen's Pier saga. Conservation activists called for a judicial review against the government's decision not to declare the pier as a monument.

Commissioner for Heritage Jack Chan Jick-chi agreed to seek legal advice. He also declined to comment on a report that the government plans to withdraw Central Market from the land sale list for conservation.

From news.gov.hk:
Central Market to become (HK)$500m 'oasis' (http://news.gov.hk/en/category/infrastructureandlogistics/091019/html/091019en06001.htm)

More info from the Urban Renewal Authority (http://ura.org.hk/html/c1002094e336e.html)

Notes: US$1=HK$7.8

University may lose historic buildings
HK$21.7m renovation won international award
9 October 2009
South China Morning Post

Baptist University may have to move next year out of a colonial military building for which it has just won an international heritage conservation award after a HK$21.7 million renovation.

The government has proposed to downgrade the former Royal Air Force Officers' Mess in Kowloon Bay from grade one to two in its review of heritage sites, and may require the university to vacate the building when its lease expires next year.

The university, which has used the building for the past four years to house its academy of visual arts, won an honourable mention in the 2009 Unesco Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for cultural heritage conservation.

The Unesco jury said the project set a noteworthy model for recycling obsolete public buildings.

"[The university] has transformed an abandoned colonial heritage landmark into a vibrant university space, making optimal use of the spacious interior spaces and enlivening them with student activities," the jury said.

The visual arts academy is due to move to a new building in Kowloon Tong when it is completed next year.

But the university hopes to keep the historic site for its arts outreach programme and housing extra arts classes needed under the new 3+3+4 education system.

A spokeswoman for the Government Property Agency said it was consulting the Education Bureau and other departments about the institution's application for a new lease.

Lam Long-chau, director of the university's estates office, said the site was a cradle for nurturing arts talent and a base for the university to promote arts.

"We do hope we have a chance to stay and contribute to the community," Lam said.

The college has been opened to the public with guided tours and art workshops.

The project was among 12 winners from the region, including the mainland, Australia, Pakistan and South Korea. It was Hong Kong's only entry in the competition, which received 48 entries from 14 areas.

The officer's mess and the annex, hidden on a wooded slope and built in 1934, were part of the RAF base at Kai Tak. The flat-roofed, two-storey building features colonnaded verandahs typical of colonial buildings in Southeast Asia, built to adapt to the sub-tropical weather.

The university won the lease for the 3,500-square-metre site in 2005 in a government bidding exercise and converted it with funds from the University Grants Committee.

During the three-month renovation, different spaces were transformed into classrooms, studios and workshops. Military features such as an air raid shelter, a Nissen hut and a small shooting range, scattered on the open green space, were preserved.

Some clever tricks were used to make the old structure comply with modern building codes, which do not provide leeway for historic buildings in meeting safety standards, often resulting in the removal of original features.

The two fire staircases, for example, were 25mm short of the required width, so plaster was peeled from the walls on either side to make the stairs wider, assistant director of estates Dominic Fung Bai-lei said.

Li Kam-ping, a third-year visual arts student, said it was a pity the academy had to quit the campus next year despite the award.

"The tranquil natural environment gives me lots of inspiration," she said.

Restoring Queen's Pier must be integral part of conserving Central
20 October 2009
SCMP

Many have hailed the government's initiative of "conserving Central" as a paradigm shift and a triumph of civil society's continuous efforts to conserve historic elements of Victoria City.

It is certainly not easy in money-first Hong Kong and the government should be praised for its efforts. Conserving Central not only gives breathing spaces for a packed business centre. More importantly, it also allows people a right to the city, a right that might be denied if the spaces were occupied by grade-A offices or expensive commercial outlets.

Can we call this the second liberation of Central? Before the second world war Central, for a variety of health, sanitary, racial and political reasons, was a rather exclusive district for expatriates.

Chinese were relegated to live in areas around and to the west of Sheung Wan. It was only in the 1950s when the government undertook massive reclamation in Central that public piers, transport hubs and public open spaces were planned. According to the 1961 City of Victoria Hong Kong Central Area Redevelopment Report by the director of public works, most of the reclaimed land was to be "set aside for improvements in community facilities rather than to increase the existing preponderance of private buildings both business and residential in this congested part of the city".

It was in this plan that City Hall, Edinburgh Place and Queen's Pier fronting the new harbourfront became firmly established as civic spaces that could be reached by ordinary people "for sitting and watching, waiting and talking". For the first time in the colonial history of the City of Victoria, people were given a right to use the city core and imbue it with meaning.

City Hall, Edinburgh Place and the Queen's Pier complex were symbolic, according to the director's report. They were to be seen as a suitable entrance to the colony for visitors arriving at the pier. They would arrive at a civic space, in the political and economic heart of the city. This was the first quiet but powerful liberation of Central. This probably explains why the fight to rescue Queen's Pier in 2007 stirred so much emotion within the community.

Unless you have a right to access a space and use it, you cannot turn it into a place with cultural images and collective memories.

Now, hopefully, with the Central Market and other buildings saved, they will provide spaces for people from all walks of life in the city to use and imbue them with meaning that is valued by civil society. Central's second liberation is in the making.

However, if conservation necessarily embraces a deep respect for the history of a place, this second liberation will be incomplete without the intact preservation of the first civic space in Central, namely the City Hall/Edinburgh Place/Queen's Pier complex.

Therefore, the pier should be reinstituted in situ as a tribute to mark the birthplace of civic space in the political and economic heart of Victoria City.

Ng Mee-kam, associate professor, department of urban planning and design, University of Hong Kong

OKay... I think you guys are getting the wrong idea about this reclamation scheme. Firstly, it was planed to give Hong Kong residents open space is a crowded-enough city. It would feature a harbourfront promenade and a big open square. Underneath would be an extension of the expressway in front of the IFC that would link it under Wan Chai and linked above ground to Causeway Bay. IMO, I support this...

Group wants Edinburgh Place to be given monument status
10 November 2009
South China Morning Post

A pressure group has proposed declaring the architectural cluster at Edinburgh Place a monument in a bid to preserve Queen's Pier at its original location.

Heritage Watch members, comprising academics, architects and Harbourfront Enhancement Committee members, said the government should have included the historic grade-one pier in the Central conservation plan presented in the policy address last month.

They said they were willing to give up the lagoon in front of the pier and accept a delay in restoring the pier.

"If building a lagoon before the pier will take too much trouble, a reflecting pool is still acceptable. We just want the pier back in its space," said Lee Yuet, who has worked in architecture for more than 45 years.

Associate professor Ng Mee-kam, of the department of urban planning and design at the University of Hong Kong, said: "We don't mind putting the pier back in its original location at a later stage, after the completion of the P2 Road. At least it would be restored properly."

The P2 Road, a slip road adjoining the Central-Wan Chai Bypass, is expected to be completed this year,

The pier was the arrival point for Hong Kong governors since 1925, Queen Elizabeth in 1975 and Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1989. It was planned together with the City Hall Complex and Edinburgh Place.

In a legislative meeting yesterday, Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said district councils and a public survey supported relocating the pier to the new waterfront.

But Heritage Watch said the district councils were a rubberstamp for government policies.

Chairman Stephen Chan Ching-kiu said Heritage Watch would submit the proposal to the Antiquities Advisory Board.

He hoped the board would make the cluster, including the Star Ferry clock tower and memorial garden next to City Hall, a historic grade one landscape, and the group would ask the Antiquities Authority to declare it a monument.

The existing system only grades individual buildings and structures. If the plan is realised, it would be the city's first graded architectural cluster.

The chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board, Bernard Chan, said the board welcomed proposals from the public, but it would only be discussed after the board finished the grading of the 1,444 buildings proposed by the government this year, "unless there's a sound argument and urgency".

Opinion : Government records are a historic resource
8 November 2009
SCMP

Your report on whether to open secret-police archives in Romania and other former communist countries in Eastern Europe ("Should Romania let sleeping dogs lie?", September 21) should give Hong Kong people pause for thought.

The point is not that the police in Hong Kong are likely to have amassed thousands of dossiers on the local population but, rather, that the Romanians - and other nationalities - recognise the value of preserving the police files.

As Virgiliu-Leon Tarau, of the Romanian National Council for the Study of Securitate Archives says, the files will have immense value for generations to come. The archives contain details of the lives of ordinary citizens - the history of the Romanian people.

So, too, the records of the Hong Kong government document the lives and activities of the people of this city.

How we lived and worked, how Hong Kong developed and thrived will be of significant interest to future generations. Yet, without an effective system for the selection and preservation of government records, our history will be lost to us - and to them.

Don Brech, Causeway Bay

Exhibition to showcase Hong Kong's heritage conservation achievements
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Government Press Release

An exhibition was launched at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre (HDC) today (November 21) to showcase the 12 winning heritage conservations in Hong Kong which have won the Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage of the United Nationals Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) over the past years.

The Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, officiated at a ceremony this afternoon to open the "Heritage Alive: UNESCO Culture Heritage Awards" Exhibition cum Symposium on the Revitalisation of Urban Heritage Buildings and Sites: Private Sector Experience in Three Cities (Hong Kong, Toronto and Vancouver) at the Heritage Discovery Centre.

Also officiating were the Head of Culture Unit of the UNESCO Bangkok Office, Dr Timothy Curtis, and Dean of Faculty of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong, Professor Ralph Lerner.

Mrs Lam noted that a total of 128 projects had received the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards since its establishment in 2000, among which 12 projects were from Hong Kong, representing 9.4% of all the awards.

"We have a great diversity and variety of projects winning the awards. It is this rich diversity of Hong Kong that makes us so different as a distinct World City," Mrs Lam said.

The UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation were established in 2000 to honour and encourage private efforts and public-private initiatives in successfully restoring structures of heritage value in the region. The winning projects have set technical and social benchmarks for conservation in the region and serve as catalysts for local preservation activity, inspiring other homeowners to take action to save their historic buildings.

Since the establishment of the Heritage Awards in 2000, 12 conservation projects in Hong Kong, including both government projects and projects initiated and conducted by non-Government organisations, have received the awards. These projects are:

* Hung Shing Old Temple - Outstanding Project, 2000
* Ohel Leah Synagogue - Outstanding Project, 2000
* King Law Ka Shuk - Award of Merit, 2001
* Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception - Honourable Mention, 2003
* St. Joseph's Chapel - Award of Merit, 2005
* Tung Wah Coffin Home - Award of Merit, 2005
* St Andrew's Church - Award of Merit, 2006
* Liu Ying Lung Study Hall - Honourable Mention, 2006
* Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre (former Whitfield Barracks) - Jury Commendation for Innovation, 2007
* Little Hong Kong - former Central Ordnance Munitions Depot) (Award of Merit, 2007
* B赌thanie (Heritage Campus of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts) - Honourable Mention, 2008
* Academy of Visual Arts of the Hong Kong Baptist University (former Royal Air Force Officers' Mess) - Honourable Mention, 2009

The exhibition, to be open to the public at the Thematic Exhibition Gallery of HDC from November 22, 2009 to February 17, 2010, will introduce the UNESCO Heritage Awards and showcase the 12 winning projects of Hong Kong, and share these conservation success stories with the general public for enhancing their awareness of heritage preservation.

Conservation professionals from Hong Kong, Toronto and Vancouver also gathered in the Symposium on the Revitalisation of Urban Heritage Buildings and Sites: Private Sector Experience in Three Cities (Hong Kong, Toronto and Vancouver) today to exchange practical experience on heritage conservation.

Using case studies, the symposium addressed issues and means of facilitating the private sector to be involved in conserving and revitalising heritage buildings and sites in the urban context.

The exhibition and symposium are jointly organised by the Commissioner for Heritage's Office, the UNESCO Bangkok Office, the Antiquities and Monuments Office and the Architectural Conservation Programme of Faculty of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong.

New school can boost city arts
The Standard
Thursday, November 19, 2009

SCAD, the University for Creative Careers, will start running courses for 300 students next year at the historic North Kowloon Magistracy in Sham Shui Po.

The only university in Hong Kong to focus on art and design, it will offer 14 non-local four- year bachelor's and master's degree programs registered with the Education Bureau.

Tuition fees will be US$27,765 (HK$216,567) for undergraduates and US$28,215 for graduates for one academic year.

Courses will cover a wide range of art-related criteria - advertising, animation, graphic design, illustration, interactive design and game development, motion media design, photography and visual effects.

Previously named the Savannah College of Art and Design, SCAD was founded in the United States in 1978. The Hong Kong campus is the fourth location after Savannah and Atlanta, both in Georgia, and Lacoste, France.

Hong Kong vice president John Paul Rowan said he hopes SCAD will play a role in the SAR's development in the creative industry, one of the six economic pillars in the chief executive's policy address.

Rowan added that all students would have to study the art and architectural history of Hong Kong, and that the university will try its best to localize its curriculum.

"I hope SCAD will help Hong Kong people start looking and realize that art is all around," Rowan said.

Applications are now open, and SAR applicants should have at least five pass grades in the Hong Kong Certificate Education Examinations. English proficiency is one of the admission requirements. The local campus would be able to accommodate 1,500 students each year.

SCAD won over the other bidder, the Chinese Artists Association, for the revitalization of the historic magistracy building in February.

Its academic departments provide frequent interaction between its students and professionals in their field with lectures, workshops and field trips. Students also gain experience by working on classroom projects with such major companies as VTech, Gulfstream, Barnes & Noble and Coca- Cola.

The university also partners and collaborates with leading national and international companies to give students valuable experience in working with professionals and top firms prior to graduation.

Heritage 1881
By DLBB from dchome :

http://www.dchome.net/attachments/day_091125/20091125_5a61224306eebff3d9f6ihC0jrPs5tyQ.jpg

http://www.dchome.net/attachments/day_091125/20091125_2f5e32caf56ad9163088ElJ4c1s9sNaa.jpg

http://www.dchome.net/attachments/day_091125/20091125_ef439cad13e34a9643f5RjyyKdL6ayi1.jpg

http://www.dchome.net/attachments/day_091125/20091125_b549ade3324e4c9c0b58rljbRnrxpZ0n.jpg

http://www.dchome.net/attachments/day_091125/20091125_b4820f117c0b87b37401RBvnX0iZZvSW.jpg

Expert to finish job on Central Market
25 November 2009
The Standard

A retired architecture professor who graded the Central Market as a historical building has been tasked to head the advisory committee that will oversee its HK$500 million revitalization.

David Lung Ping-yee was yesterday named chairman of the Central Oasis Advisory Committee, which will meet for the first time in mid-December.

Lung graded the market as a Grade III historical building during his time as chairman of the Hong Kong Antiquities Advisory Board.

Lung said the design concept of the revitalized Central Oasis _ which will be the new name of the site _ will come from the community.

``We will work with the community and an architect will be employed to work closely on what the community wants ... and how this will be re- used in the future,'' he said.

Urban Renewal Authority chairman Barry Cheung Chun-yuen said Lung ``has done more than anybody by contributing a great deal to urban regeneration efforts over the years.'' The authority will undertake a series of structural surveys of the Central Market building in the next four to six months to ascertain its foundation and other characteristics.

The market's original plans were damaged during World War II.

The advisory committee will include legislators, Central and Western district councillors, historians, academics and merchants.

Lung said the Central Market, built in 1939, was one of the city's first reinforced concrete buildings.

``It is very beautiful in terms of architectural styles _ it is one of those ``modern'' architectural styles at that time when Hong Kong was still a colony. It was built at around the same time as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank,'' he said.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen announced the Central Market plans in his policy address last month. The attempt to create an ``urban oasis'' is part of a larger revitalization of Central.

Old buildings, new design ideas
The Standard
Wednesday, December 02, 2009

http://detour.hk/images/map/map_anchor.gif

It is perhaps not surprising that Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen helped kick off the DETOUR 2009 series of creative activities. His childhood home, the old Hollywood Road Police Married Quarters, is the two- week event's anchor site.

Until next Wednesday, the old buildings will house displays, talks and shows focused on design.

Fittingly, the organizers have been rather creative: who else would have thought of having charity screenings of classic episodes of the RTHK TV series Below the Lion Rock, which explore the theme of the `living environment' - something the old quarters embody?

You may have missed those, but there's plenty more to see. One of the most interesting is from the Polytechnic University's school of design, called Debeach, or DE(TOUR on the) Beach.

The idea is to have an urban retreat in the courtyard - a beach - where passersby may rest, have a drink and play ball games.

Other features include exhibits on various aspects of design - especially urban design - as well as displays of work in wood, paper and other materials by designers.

There's lots going on elsewhere too, such as neighborhood art galleries and fun in Kowloon and the New Territories. Check the detour.hk website for details.

The idea of the quarters as an anchor site is a good one as the government aims to make it a center for creative activities, with design and arts-focused studios, galleries, shops and even lodgings for visiting artists. Hosting DETOUR 2009 gives the site a head start. Bernard Charnwut Chan, chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board, sees culture from all perspectives.