Historic Hong Kong reservoir saved from the wrecking ball gets grade one protected status

Name: Demolition of Hong Kong old reservoir halted after calls for heritage assessment
Uploaded: 2021-03-11T11:52:30.000Z
Duration: 1 min 19 s
Description: Demolition of Hong Kong old reservoir halted after calls for heritage assessment

The underground reservoir, with its impressive columns and soaring arches, became a cause célèbre after it was found to be slated for demolition last December

Chairman of the Antiquities Advisory Board calls it an ‘exciting and happy day for heritage in Hong Kong’ following the unanimous vote

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A historic reservoir in Shek Kip Mei that was saved from the wrecking ball last year has been accorded protected status. Photo: Winson Wong

Rachel Yeo

Published: 7:52pm, 11 Mar 2021Updated: 9:21pm, 11 Mar 2021

Hong Kong heritage advisers have accorded grade one historic status to a striking century-old underground reservoir that was saved from the wrecking ball by a public outcry last December.

In a meeting on Thursday, members of the Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) unanimously agreed that the structure in an area known locally as Bishop Hill should be given the second-highest designation on the scale, after monument status.

“I think this is an exciting and happy day for heritage in Hong Kong, knowing the proposed grading … for the Sham Shui Po reservoir is supported by all AAB members,” Douglas So Cheung-tak, the board’s chairman, said.

A one month public consultation will be held to hear feedback and the findings made available for study, according to So.

The massive reservoir, with its impressive stone columns and soaring brick arches, is located in Shek Kip Mei, Sham Shui Po, and was originally earmarked for demolition because of structural problems.

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Demolition of Hong Kong old reservoir halted after calls for heritage assessment

But images shared online by members of the public and picked up by the news media tapped into a groundswell of heritage-protection sentiment and put pressure on the government to preserve it.