Heritage review for rare building
The government has bowed to pressure from preservationists and promised to assess the historic value of a pre-war building at Queen Mary Hospital that is slated for demolition.
The health chief said yesterday that a heritage impact assessment would be carried out on the 70-year-old building, part of the hospital's nursing quarters.
The building, constructed in 1936 in the neo-classical style now rare in Hong Kong, was to make way for a new complex for emergency and cardiac care services.
Lee Ho-yin, director of the architectural conservation programme at the University of Hong Kong, said the building's style, with heavy base and high columns, was the same as the Legislative Council building.
He said it could be preserved and restored after removing the top floor, which was added later.
Medical-sector legislator Kwok Ka-ki urged the government to protect the building.
Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok said the Antiquities and Monuments Office would assess the heritage value of the site.
Dr Chow said the new centre would meet the needs of the hospital's long-term development.
The state-of-the-art facilities would help fulfil strong demand for specialised tertiary services in the Hong Kong West hospital cluster.
