Minutes of 964 Meeting of the Town Planning Board held on 20.8 ...

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<strong>the</strong> former Marine Police Headquarters and <strong>the</strong> Wo Cheong Pawn Shop
had become a hotel and a <strong>the</strong>med restaurant respectively after revitalisation.
The general public could not gain access to nor tour around <strong>the</strong>se sites
without patronising <strong>the</strong> services <strong>the</strong>re. Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, <strong>the</strong> past history <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
concerned heritage buildings had not been preserved by <strong>the</strong> adaptive
re-uses <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sites;
(c) economic returns should not be <strong>the</strong> sole factor to decide how a heritage site
should be preserved and used. It was also necessary to respect its heritage
and historical values, and let <strong>the</strong> public learn about <strong>the</strong> local history and
culture <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> site. The representation site was located at <strong>the</strong> heart <strong>of</strong> Old
Central. Upon research, it was discovered that <strong>the</strong> site had housed a Shing
Wong Temple prior to <strong>the</strong> Central School being built. Even <strong>the</strong> late PMQ
had assumed an important social function as some kai fong (local
neighbours) had joined <strong>the</strong> JPC functions or played at <strong>the</strong> basketball court
within <strong>the</strong> representation site. Given <strong>the</strong> rich histories and local memories
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> representation site, <strong>the</strong>re was grave concern that <strong>the</strong> representation
site, after being adaptively re-used, would only allow <strong>the</strong> public to use a
small open space at <strong>the</strong> lower platform with an area <strong>of</strong> 1200m 2 , but not <strong>the</strong>
existing buildings on <strong>the</strong> site;
(d) <strong>the</strong> main purposes <strong>of</strong> preserving <strong>the</strong> representation site were to respect <strong>the</strong>
local history <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> site, open up <strong>the</strong> site for public enjoyment and
encourage public participation in <strong>the</strong> revitalisation process;
(e) it was well understood that AMO, ra<strong>the</strong>r than TPB, was responsible for <strong>the</strong>
grading <strong>of</strong> historic buildings. However, <strong>the</strong>re was a lack <strong>of</strong> co-ordination
between <strong>the</strong> TPB and AMO regarding <strong>the</strong> preservation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> site.
Although four proposals to revitalise <strong>the</strong> site had been received by DEVB,
<strong>the</strong> zoning <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> site was still not decided by <strong>the</strong> TPB. Moreover, with
AMO’s full report on <strong>the</strong> historical background and architectural merits <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> site, it would not be difficult to accord a historic grading to <strong>the</strong> existing
buildings on <strong>the</strong> site. Having such grading and letting <strong>the</strong> concerned
parties know <strong>the</strong> grading could help safeguard <strong>the</strong> heritage and historical