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The New Territories power brokers of the Heung Yee Kuk  have a new headquarters - a HK$200 million, three-storey, 40,000-square-foot complex complete with a grand theatre and ambitions of becoming a wedding venue.
And even pan-democrats are free to use it, provided they pay, says  the politically conservative kuk, led by Executive Council member Lau Wong-fat.
Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen  and former Legislative Council president Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai  looked on as the facility in Shek Mun, Sha Tin, was inaugurated yesterday, replacing one in Kowloon the kuk has used for more than three decades.
Its theatre, designed for Cantonese opera, can hold 1,300. Lau said it would be available to any organisation wishing to stage performances, conferences or receptions. Applications would be accepted from all groups. 
Another auditorium will host smaller-scale performances. A library will be installed for public use and an exhibition hall will showcase relics to demonstrate tradition village life in rural parts of the New Territories. 
For lovers who fancy a traditional wedding, the kuk is seeking a business partner to provide such a service at the new building.
'The design of the building was based on the theme 'preserve traditions, herald the future'... Its completion marks a new stage of the kuk's work,' Lau said.
With a patio in the centre to allow sunshine in and a rooftop in ancient Chinese style, the building incorporates both traditional Chinese architectural features and more modern facilities, kuk vice-chairman Cheung Hok-ming  said. 
The construction and renovation together cost HK$200 million - double the original estimate set four years ago. The kuk pays a token rent of HK$1,000 per year to the government for the land lease.
Lau said the new building would be put into service in late May, while the kuk's old site in Cumberland Road, Kowloon Tong,  which it acquired in 1975, might be sold, redeveloped or let out. 
The market value of the Kowloon premises has been estimated at HK$200 million. Kuk members have been discussing the possibility of selling it to cover the cost of the new building. 
The kuk will hold internal elections in June. Lau is expected to stay as chairman, despite being embroiled in a scandal in September over reports he failed to declare a number of property transactions to the Executive Council. He was cleared of any wrongdoing.



Heung Yee Kuk unveils new base