New Chicago Booth campus won't close Mt Davis trails
US$50m conversion of historic building will not shut out walkers
The public will still be able to walk through the grounds of a historic building on Mount Davis after it is converted into a campus for an American business school, which is paying the government a one-off premium of HK$1,000 for a 10-year lease.
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, which moved its Asian headquarters from Singapore to Hong Kong last year, will in return foot the renovation bill of roughly US$50 million (HK$387.6 million).
It pledged yesterday to protect the grade-three historic building, a former detention centre, on Victoria Road, Sai Wan.
"The school wants to preserve the history of the site," said Gavin Tun, director of project management at the school. "All architectural elements will be protected and preserved."
The building was initially a clubhouse for British soldiers before being renovated in the 1950s to incarcerate political prisoners.
It has been set aside by the government for the school, pending approval from town planners and other authorities. The school said it submitted its application to the Town Planning Board on January 14.
The main campus structure would be a new three-storey building suspended above the existing historical elements, said Francis Yan Mang-yan, architect of the renovation project.
That would minimise the impact of the campus on the heritage site, maximise lighting and ventilation and ensure the historic buildings were properly showcased, Yan said.
The building would be shaped like a ribbon to blend into the hillside contours, he said. A viewing deck would let people admire the sea view and sunset.
A former interrogation room would house an exhibition on the site's history. The old prison cells would be turned into classrooms. Other features such as fireplaces would be maintained.
Existing public trails within the site would be maintained, made safe or rerouted as necessary, Yan said. Although the campus would be open to the public only during office hours, the trails and the remains of a battery would be accessible all day.
The gross floor area of the campus is about 52,000 sq ft, with the new building accounting for about 43,000 sq ft.
Tun said construction work could begin in the second quarter of next year and the campus would welcome its first students in late 2018.
Students are paying HK$1.2 million for 16-week executive MBA programmes that started in August at a temporary campus in Cyberport.
