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Quinton Chan

HKU says there is no way of saving old water treatment centre at the heart of its HK$2.5b site

A  historic industrial building in Pok Fu Lam will be razed  under a University of Hong Kong plan to build a HK$2.5 billion  campus.

The three-storey treatment works were  built around  1931 to supply clean water to residents in Mid-Levels and Western district. They were  decommissioned in 1993.

The plant is classified  as a Grade III historic building. It will be the first time in at least 10 years  a graded building has been demolished.

The university, Water Supplies Department and a green group have looked  at ways to save the Elliot Treatment Works from demolition but  found it impossible since they sit in the middle of the site. The best HKU can do is keep the facade  and showcase the city's history of water supply with photographs, maps, plans and  equipment.

Three buildings with a total floor space of 42,000 square metres will be erected on the site of  the Pok Fu Lam service reservoir. Two buildings that housed staff  will be  transformed into  the  entrance of  the centennial campus, with a visitor centre,  bookshop and cafeteria. The  reservoir will be relocated.

Site preparation  will begin next year, with the  project due to be completed by the end of 2011. It will  provide more space and facilities for when four-year degree courses replace  three-year degrees  in 2012.

Damien Ku Chi-chung, a retired deputy director of water supplies, said: 'This plant was state-of-the-art at the time. It is partially hydraulic-powered, with pipes installed underground and a pool on the roof. The design is very clever, as it utilised all the space available there.

'It is also historically significant because it was the first water treatment plant in the area and represented another stage of history in water supplies in Hong Kong.'

Albert Lai Kwong-tak,  a director of the Conservancy Association, said the plant should be preserved, since it is one of the few  remaining industrial monuments in the city. He said one option to save the plant was to build  one of the campus buildings on top of the relocated service reservoir.

'This is technically feasible,' he said. 'It is not ideal to keep just a wall of a  historical building. The plant should be saved and converted into a water supplies museum,' he said.

But Alex Chan Tze-ho, a senior Water Supplies Department engineer, said it would be  difficult to build a  campus block  on top of the service reservoir.

'There is a risk of water contamination during the construction. The reservoir supplies water to households in Central and Western district. We cannot take any chances.'

The university's pro-vice-chancellor, John Malpas,  who is overseeing the expansion, said it would be difficult to save the plant because of the environment of the site.

'If we have to keep the building, then we have to cut the hillside and take down trees. Or if we don't do that, we have to do buildings  another five or six storeys higher, which we do not want to see.

'This is a sensitive and difficult site with all kinds of restrictions. If anyone can come up with a bright idea, we are open to it. But  I cannot think of any better way of doing things.'

Professor Malpas said keeping the building was not necessarily the best way of preserving heritage.  More people would visit and understand the plant's history  after it became a display area.

He said the Antiquities Advisory Board had endorsed the plans.

But Kam Nai-wai,  a Central and Western district councillor and member of the Democratic Party, said it was meaningless to keep just a wall of the plant.

'As the highest education institute in the city, the public would expect the University of Hong Kong to put more effort into  heritage conservation,' he said.



Historic works make way for campus