Six historic buildings to become tourist attractions

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　■浸大將雷生春活化為中醫藥保健中心，提供約4至5名全職中醫師為病人診症。資料圖片

　Results of the first batch of historic buildings shortlisted for the Revitalizing Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme were announced on 17 February. Six out of the seven buildings were selected for revitalization and will be refurbished under various schemes to become hostels, Chinese medical healthcare centre, hotel, etc. The North Kowloon Magistracy building, one that had caused much controversy, will be converted into an art and design school. The school will be located in the same district with two other projects involving the Lai Chi Kok Hospital which is to become a centre for the promotion of Chinese culture and national education, and the Mei Ho House which will be turned into a youth hostel. It is expected that together, these three buildings will form a cultural hub in Sham Shui Po to bring economic vitality to the tourist industry in Hong Kong. The government will allocate more than HK$500 million for the entire Scheme to subsidize renovation work and operation of social enterprises. It is anticipated that about 1,000 jobs will be created in the construction period and upon commissioning by mid-2011, some 500 full-time and part-time jobs can be introduced.

　The Development Bureau launched the Revitalization Scheme early last year and 114 applications were received. The Advisory Committee on Revitalization of Historic Buildings, which is responsible for assessing the proposals, had had 16 meetings since June last year to examine the applications, according to its chairman Bernard Chan. He said that many of these applications outlined good ideas and presented very creative and high-quality proposals. However, it seemed to him that there were non-profit organizations that aimed “to find resident premises rather than to preserve historic buildings” and he also mentioned that there were applications which did not succeed in the end because of “mismatch”.

　At the press conference on 17th February, Secretary for Development Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced the five historic buildings selected for the second round of the Scheme. They include the much-concerned Blue House Cluster in Wan Chai, the former Fanling Magistracy and the re-launched Old Tai Po Police Station. Translated by 開明