Limited public access to site's historic features
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.
Nearing completion
Key features of the redeveloped former marine police headquaters 1 Signal tower 2 A disused tunnel inside a retail shop 3 Heritage hall 4 Landscaped garden 5 Boutique hotel with more than 10 rooms 6 A stable turned into a pub 7 Piazza
