Fresh concerns emerged yesterday about the extra funding needed for the expanded West Kowloon arts hub, as the venue staged its first big event under the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority umbrella.
Ronald Arculli, chairman of the authority's development committee, said there had been a double-digit increase in construction costs since the government approved project funding of HK$21.6 billion in 2006.
The building of environmentally friendly facilities, which was not included in previous agreements, was expected to add to the final bill, he said.
Arculli said further discussions were needed to see who would bear this additional burden.
'We still have HK$21.6 billion unused,' he told a radio station. 'It's too early to say we are running out of funding.'
Some of the options being considered are a bond issue, private sponsorship and bank loans.
Louis Yu Kwok-lit, the authority's executive director for performing arts, said one way of saving public money would be to let sponsors name facilities. He gave the example of New York's famed Carnegie Hall, which was named after industrialist Andrew Carnegie.
