Concern over arts building costs

The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority is under pressure to increase the weighting it gives to cost when selecting winners of arts facilities competitions, meaning cheaper designs will stand a better chance of winning.

In a Legislative Council meeting yesterday, the statutory authority and Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing were urged to disclose the updated cost of building the 40-hectare arts hub in West Kowloon by July, after the cost of building the first venue - the Xiqu Centre - doubled from its original estimate of HK$1.3 billion to HK$2.7 billion.

The authority's board members and university professors had speculated that the HK$21.6 billion endowment approved in 2007 would no longer be enough to complete the original master plan, due to the significant rise in construction costs.

And their speculation was proved right when in December the authority announced that the winning design for the Xiqu Centre, a performance venue for Chinese operas, would cost twice the estimate made in 2008. It led to further speculation that the cost of the whole arts hub project would also double.

The authority said this was largely due to the rise in construction costs and partly due to the extra facilities added into the design, including space for leisure and education.

But culture and sports constituency lawmaker Ma Fung-kwok, who serves on the board, said the financial risk was already beyond the authority's control and the government should help seek a solution. "I'm so worried," he said. "All the money could be spent after completing the M+ [a flagship museum for visual arts] and the park." The arts hub will have 15 venues in all.