A group of young businessmen and designers hopes to restore a disused market in Sheung Wan as a food and art marketplace and establish a food education charity like the one set up by British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.
Hong Kong Ambassadors of Design is one of 15 non-profit organisations bidding for the contract to revitalise Bridges Street Market.
The Development Bureau's heritage committee meets this week to shortlist the submissions for the city's first post-war market building, which dates from 1953 and now enjoys a grade three heritage rating.
The designers' group faces competitors including the Journalism Education Foundation, which wants to set up a news museum; the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which, together with other professional organisations, proposes a centre for urban planning; the Federation of Youth Groups, which wants a youth training centre; and animators proposing an animation centre.
Introducing the Ambassadors for Design proposal to the South China Morning Post last week, director Carl Gouw Kar-yiu said their planned two-storey space, comprising a restaurant and marketplace, would be similar to Oliver's food-themed social enterprise. '[The restaurant] would provide training opportunities for underprivileged youth in the kitchen and in the dining area,' said Gouw, 35, who runs a property development company. Youngsters would be referred to the group by its partner organisation Wofoo Foundation.
Alan Lo Yeung-kit, chairman of the Ambassadors, said the market would host diverse activities: 'The idea is to broaden the concept of a modern-day market. It can cover different subject matter, such as art and design, master classes on cooking and food seminars, as well as be a place to sell seasonal produce from the New Territories and street food.'