Hong Kong antiquities board declares three historic buildings worthy of permanent protection
Grade One designations accompanied by recommendation that ‘every effort’ be made to preserve a 130-year-old building in Central
Hong Kong’s Antiquities Advisory Board has agreed to declare three Grade One historic buildings as monuments for permanent protection.
The three buildings are 82-year-old Buddhist temple Tung Lin Kok Yuen in Happy Valley, 86-year-old Kowloon Union Church in Yau Ma Tei, and 318-year-old Yeung Hau Temple in Tai O.
At a meeting on Thursday, the board also agreed to recommend a three-storey building with over 130 years of history in Central as a Grade One historic building, meaning “every effort should be made to preserve [the building] if possible”.
“The Antiquities and Monuments Office considers that with the significant heritage value ... the three historic buildings have reached the ‘high threshold’ to be declared as monuments,” the office said in a statement. “Consent ... has been obtained from the respective owners.”
Office executive secretary Susanna Siu Lai-kuen said the three buildings were all privately owned, but the office would oversee the buildings’ conservation and maintenance after the declaration. The owners would need to obtain a permit from the office if they wanted to initiate any maintenance or renovation works, she said.