Government heritage advisers fear the best-preserved section of Nathan Road will be lost under a plan to expand St Andrew's Church.
The plan, discussed at the Antiquities Advisory Board yesterday, involves construction of an auditorium under the existing slope and landscaped area fronting the church at 138 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.
The stone wall would be demolished to make way for a glass facade for the auditorium. The church proposes rebuilding a 15-metre section of the wall with the original stone, a third of its present length. The existing stone gateway will be retained.
The oldest Protestant church in Kowloon, St Andrew's was built in 1906 and has been proposed for grade-one historic status.
In its original proposal presented to the board in September last year, the church proposed complete demolition of the wall for a full glass frontage. It suggested partial preservation after the board and the Antiquities and Monuments Office said they considered the wall to be of historic significance and a key feature that should be preserved.
But board members, who have visited the site, are not happy with the latest plan. Dr Ng Cho-nam said the wall was the only reminder of what Nathan Road looked like 100 years ago: 'The church, the rubble wall and the two rows of Chinese banyan trees form a full picture of the old street. It would be a pity if we can't keep it.'
Another member, Bryan Wong Kim-yeung, said the proposed glass-and-stone frontage failed to address the board's concerns. 'It would look more like a shopfront,' he said.