A 140-year-old building to which Japanese forces added a mortuary during World War II has taken on a new lease of life - as a Wellcome supermarket.
In the first conversion of a declared monument in Hong Kong, the former Stanley police station - which was built in 1859 and was the oldest standing station in Hong Kong - reopened yesterday in its new capacity after a two-month renovation.
Michael Lai Kwan-hong, Wellcome's senior project manager, said care had been taken to preserve the building's features after the supermarket chain won a five-year lease last July.
'The cost of the renovation is about 30 per cent higher than it would have been for an ordinary supermarket,' Mr Lai said, adding they had set aside about $1 million for future maintenance.
No nails were used on the ceilings and special features, such as fireplaces, a chimney and a gunroom, were all preserved for historical value, he said.
During the Japanese occupation, the Japanese Gendarmerie used the Stanley station as a local headquarters and a mortuary was built on to the structure. After the war, the building reverted to a police station until 1974. It eventually became a restaurant.