The historic Central Police Station compound is set to become a cultural icon for Hong Kong, under a Hong Kong Jockey Club proposal to conserve and refurbish it. Secretary for Development Carrie Lam welcomes the proposal.

Through the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, the Club will fund the HK$1.8 billion capital cost of renovating the disused 19th-century compound, to transform it into a heritage, arts, cultural, and tourism hub, as Chief Executive Donald Tsang outlined in his Policy Address yesterday.

New icon: These three views of the Central Police Station offer a panorama of the existing main building.

More performance venues

A connection between Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo will be created to enhance pedestrian circulation, with open public spaces and landscaping.

A cultural complex will be erected on the upper platform area that will include a 500-seat auditorium, 500-seat theatre, two art cinemas, a gallery, a multipurpose exhibition space and supporting facilities.

Conversion work is expected to begin in January 2009 and the entire site is expected to be opened to the public in mid-2012.

Club Chairman John Chan said the club was proud to present this "as a gift to the people of Hong Kong in celebration of the HKSAR's 10th anniversary".

Secretary for Development Carrie Lam welcomed the proposal, and thanked the Jockey Club for donating $1.8 billion for the renovation and development cost.  The Government has accepted Jockey Club's proposal in principle.

In line with Chief Executive's vision

The proposal "fully realises the sprit of the adaptive re-use scheme for historic buildings, to transform these buildings into local cultural icons," Mrs Lam said. She added it was also in line with the Chief Executive's vision on heritage conservation.

The redeveloped site will form a heritage cluster with nearby tourist spots, including the Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum, Man Mo Temple, Soho District, Lan Kwai Fong and Hollywood Road, Mrs Lam added, offering tourists a diversified travelling experience.

The site will also offer a new performing and exhibition venue and help promote Hong Kong's cultural and art development, she said. It will also bring more business opportunities to the nearby shops and restaurants, boosting the district's economy and creating more jobs.

The Government will make the site available to the Jockey Club under a lease and an agreement setting out specific terms and conditions. All restoration, conservation and development work of the historic buildings will be in line with Antiquities & Monuments Office guidelines.

"Our planned mixture of commercial and cultural usage will ensure the vibrancy of the entire area, transforming a heritage site into a family destination for locals and visitors," Mr Chan added. "We believe such a redevelopment will successfully integrate the community's valuable heritage with contemporary architecture, creating a new cultural landmark for Hong Kong."

The club has commissioned architects from Switzerland, Herzog & de Meuron, as design architects for the project. The club's Executive Director for Charities William Yiu said the club would work with the design architects, relevant consultants and Government departments to conduct a detailed assessment, to ensure the project complied with all statutory planning, traffic and environmental requirements.

"We intend to share detailed plans with the public in December through an exhibition at the Hong Kong Racing Museum, together with a series of symposiums, to gather more views from the community before the work starts," he said.

The club conducted a survey in mid-2006 to gauge the public's views on how they would like to see the Central Police Station conserved and developed. Most respondents believed the compound could offer them enough variety and potential to spend an entire day with their families.

The survey also found over 90% of respondents would like to see retail and food and beverage outlets on the site, 90% were receptive to turning the compound into a cultural complex, and 79% felt that the complex should become a Hong Kong icon.

Apart from bearing the capital costs for the compound's renovation and development, the club will also fund recurrent deficits for its initial years of operation until it becomes financially self-sustaining. Any surplus cash flow from the project will be reinvested in other Hong Kong heritage conservation projects.