A
B
C.S. 166
CONFIDENTIAL # 2
XCC(77)89
Copy No. Page 2
34.
of 40
zoning of the Marine Police Station site was changed from Government Institution and Community to Commercial/Residential and annotated "To include a public transport station".
7
The Kowloon-Canton Railway terminus was moved to Hung Hom on 30th November 1975 and work was started on designs for the proposed Cultural Complex on the basis of the draft plan. Models, sketches and diagrams of the Cultural Complex were publicly displayed between late-1974 and mid-1977 at various exhibitions. An outline drawing of the proposals is at Annex A.
Appeal for the preservation of the former railway station building
8
Since November 1976, many letters have been published in the Chinese and English press arguing the pros and cons of the pre- servation of the former Kowloon-Canton Railway station building. The Hong Kong Heritage Society, a body which was formed about that time, emerged as the main proponent for the building's preservation. The Urban Council publicly opposed the retention of this building. The Antiquities Advisory Board recommended the retention only of the clock-tower and the stone facade of the station, knowing that the remainder of the building stood on part of the site of the proposed Cultural Complex. This controversy culminated in a Government statement, released in May 1977, that the Governor, having considered the recommendation of the Antiquities Advisory Board, had decided that it would not be in the public interest to retain the facade of the old railway station at Tsim Sha Tsui, as its preservation would interfere with the construction of the Cultural Complex which was required to meet an urgent need. The statement added that the Governor had directed that the clock-tower (which would not obstruct the construction of the complex) should be retained for the time being and maintained at the Government's expense, so that the people could see for themselves whether or not it blended with the Cultural Complex after the latter's completion.
9
The Hong Kong Heritage Society, having harried a number of senior Government officials on the question since then and mounted a campaign in the English press and on the radio, petitioned the Governor on 29th July 1977 for the preservation of the whole of the former Kowloon- Canton Railway station building. A copy of the Society's petition, with its annexes but not the press file, is at Annex B.
Petition from the Heritage Society
10
While the main argument put forward in this petition is for the preservation of the former Kowloon-Canton Railway station building
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