Battle for the Blue House steps up

St James' Settlement yesterday stepped up its bid to get the government to reconsider its HK$100 million plan to transform the 80-year-old Blue House on Stone Nullah Lane in Wan Chai.

It wants residents to be allowed to stay and the building converted into a 'living' museum.

Under the government's plan, a joint effort between the Housing Society and the Urban Renewal Authority announced on March 31, the building will be transformed into a tourist attraction with a theme of tea and Chinese medicine. Thirty households would be affected by the plan.

While giving a tour of the house in support of the bid, St James' Settlement senior officer Lawrence Lam Kwok-wai said it would be meaningless to preserve the 'shell' of the Blue House without retaining its original flavour. He advocates retaining some flats for existing residents, luring local artists with cheap rent, opening a heritage museum of Wan Chai district and leasing office space to social enterprises and businesses.

'We are not opposing the government's plan,' he said. 'There are some residents who would like to move out and we would be imposing our views on them. But there are also residents who want to stay, and they are the experts on the building and the surrounding area. They are the ones who have lived there for decades.

'It would be foolish to throw out this resource. Instead they could be involved in preserving and sharing the heritage of the area with visitors.