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Alex Lo

Snoopy and the Peanuts gang will be coming to Hong Kong later this year.

 Sun Hung Kai Properties said yesterday it would build Asia's first Snoopy's World, a 40,000-square-foot theme park in New Town Plaza, Sha Tin.

 'We are going ahead with the project, given the enduring popularity of the comic strip,' a spokeswoman said last night. It is scheduled to open in the second half of the year.

 The strip's creator, Charles Schulz, was 77 when he died from colon cancer in February.

 The spokeswoman said it was part of a renovation project to attract more visitors to the plaza.

 The company will reportedly invest $30 million in construction and copyright for the strip's characters, although the spokeswoman would not confirm the figure.

 The park, to be built on the third floor of the plaza, will have four key areas:   A three-metre giant Snoopy on top of his dog house, which will serve as a history museum on the comics and Schulz's life;   An artificial water channel in which riders travel in a canoe through a valley, a forest, a war zone and in outer space;   A baseball park with playground slides, swings and model castles, and;   A school ground featuring a full-size yellow school bus where Peanuts souvenirs will be sold.

  Liberal Party legislator and tourism constituency representative Howard Young welcomed the project.

 'Disneyland will lead the way for Hong Kong as a tourist hub, but we need smaller theme parks like Snoopy's World to provide additional attractions,' he said.

 The project will beat Singapore's Snoopy Place restaurant, which plans to open a theme cafe in Hong Kong early next year.



Oh brother, Snoopy and the gang come to town