District councillor upset over government proposal to auction landmark building in Repulse Bay for hotel project
Repulse Bay is fighting to save a beachfront building that has helped define the shoreline for at least 50 years.
The government intends to auction the land that is occupied by the Seaview Building, described as a 'hybrid pseudo-classical facade applied to a modernist style', and then allow a private developer to put up a low-rise hotel, some time after 2008.
But a district councillor for the area says tearing down the building means destroying an integral part of Repulse Bay's heritage.
'It's a beautiful building. We should keep it for historical reasons. We don't want them to tear it down, just to build a new one,' said Southern district council vice-chairman Chu Ching-hong.
He welcomed the plan to build a hotel in the area, which has been without one since the Repulse Bay Hotel was knocked down in 1982, but has called on the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) to renovate and preserve the structure.
The building, covering 24,760 square feet, was built sometime between the 1940s and 50s, but by whom and for what purpose has been forgotten. In recent years, the government has used the restaurant inside for contract catering. The building is vacant after the last tenant, who ran a restaurant, was evicted a year ago for not paying rent.
