HONG KONG is set to lose another slice of its history when the demolition gangs move into Woodside, a delightful colonial house set on the hillside above Quarry Bay.
The 100-year-old house, which is currently occupied by 36 people, is to be knocked down to make way for 1,800 home ownership flats in four tower blocks. Further up the hill, a further 1,600 flats will be built.
At one stage, the Antiquities and Monuments Office considered taking out a preservation order on the two-storey red brick building, nestled off Mount Parker Road and just below the Quarry Bay Country Park. It even considered taking it apart brick by brick and rebuilding it elsewhere. Members have now decided both ideas are unfeasible so they intend to salvage its best architectural features and use them in other restoration works.
Woodside is currently leased from the Government for $87,000 a month by the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA), a quasi-religious organisation based in America. It provides accommodation and acts as a centre for various group activities. A number of Cantonese ghost films have also been filmed there because of its secluded, wooded location.
Woodside was built as two homes around the turn of the century by Butterfield and Swire Group to house the families of two assistant managers at the Taikoo sugar refinery and dock. At one stage a cable car ran up to the house. During the war it was occupied by the Japanese and seriously damaged by fire. Later it reverted to Government control and was left empty. Another fire badly damaged it a few years later and in 1985 the ICA offered to restore it in return for a peppercorn rent for five years.
The Housing Authority envisages starting construction of the flats by 1998 with completion expected by the year 2001. In the meantime, the ICA, whose lease is due for renewal in June, will be given a three-month renewable tenancy.