Blue House renovations continue, but is heritage area losing its soul?
Blue House quarter renovations in Wan Chai continue apace, as trendy bars take over tenements and old residents move out
Millions of taxpayers' dollars have been poured into preserving a cluster of 1920s-era tenements in Wan Chai.
But a wave of trendy new bars and restaurants opening in the area has local residents and workers worried that the unique community's historic charm is being eroded.
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and executive councillor Bernard Chan visited the working class enclave around the heritage-listed Blue House yesterday. They launched multimillion-dollar renovations that will see toilets, lifts and kitchens installed in the old buildings.
Work will start in two, called the Yellow House and the Orange House, next month.
Suki Chau, who works on heritage issues at St James' Settlement, the Wan Chai-based NGO tasked with looking after the Blue House area, said she had seen many changes since 2004 when she started working in the area.
"Over the past decade, people are more concerned about conservation," she said. "But it's not just about keeping the 'hardware', it's preserving the whole landscape. This is a new idea for Hong Kong.
"In Europe, you have old areas which are preserved with no new developments but that is not the case here because Hong Kong is too small. So the public and the government have a lot to learn."