'The Urban Council had an eye to turning it into a museum and coffee shop,' Force Museum Advisory Committee member Chief Superintendent Anthony McLoughlin said. 'Then I heard the HKTA wanted to turn it into a glorified restaurant,' he said.

'I wouldn't go to a particular restaurant because it happens to be an old government building.

'I'd go there for the food and ambience.' The 1884 building has been empty since Marine Police moved out in November 1996 to their new headquarters in Sai Wan Ho.

'The Police Museum is currently stuck up in Wan Chai Gap. The Urban Council had created the idea of 'Time and Tide', incorporating memorabilia from both police and observatory history - the old observatory tower stands in the Marine Police compound,' Mr McLoughlin said.

While the debate rages, the building is falling apart. 'There are leaking roofs and damp,' he said.

Tourist Association spokesman Peter Randall said he was concerned about the state of the building. 'If you're going to make use of a historical building like that, then the biggest problem is bringing it up to modern standards.' The building is the responsibility of the Government Property Agency.

'The agency is not carrying out maintenance,' its senior property manager, Brian Richardson, said.

'We simply have a caretaker at the moment.' Antiquities and Monuments Department office curator for historic buildings Susanna Siu Lai-kuen said the building was made a historical monument in 1994.

Mr Randall said the next stage would be to submit ideas to the Planning Department for a feasibility study on the property.

Mr McLoughlin said the Urban Council was not due to act on the museum idea for a few years, maybe not 'until 2002'.