Row over heritage conservation method of remains of old Hong Kong homes in Central
Urban Renewal Authority wants to dismantle 137-year-old Central structures and reassemble them on the same site
The proposed dismantling and reassembling of the remains of Central buildings more than a century old without proper assessment has come under fire.
The remains, sandwiched between Cochrane Street and Gutzlaff Street near the Mid-Levels escalator, are said to be those of 10 tenement houses, or tong lau, which were built in 1879. The Urban Renewal Authority wants to dismantle the structures, which are 34 metres long and four metres high, and reassemble them with salvaged bricks on the original site but in a smaller area.
The site is being redeveloped into an open space and walking area as part of a URA plan, which was unveiled in 2007, for surrounding residential and commercial use.
“We cannot accept their so-called method of conservation. Such a significant relic site has to be kept intact as it is,” Central and Western Concern Group convenor Katty Law Ngar-ning said.
Law, along with Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan and architectural and surveying sector lawmaker Edward Yiu Chung-yim, said the URA had made a hasty decision based on a preliminary assessment, without even entering the site.
A preliminary assessment by engineering firm AECOM, on behalf of the URA in September, showed the remains, which also serve as a retaining wall to prevent landslides, do not meet minimum safety requirements.