- 2 -
(1) The Antiquities Advisory Board recommended that
the clock tower and facade should be scheduled as a monument in the following terms :-
(a) The former K.C.R. station was of public interest
because of its historical significance. From the time that the station was first opened to the public on 28th March 1916, it had been a gateway to China for large numbers of travellers and had formed an eastern terminus for a rail link to Europe. It was on the grounds of its historical association with railway travel and the development of Hong Kong that the Board recommended preserving some reminder of this original station.
(b)
Because the redbrick portion of the station. occupied part of the site required for the proposed Cultural Complex at Tsim Sha Tsui, and because there was no need to preserve the entire station (much of which consisted of parts of lesser consequence, such as the booking hall and offices), the Board considered that it would meet the case adequately to preserve only the granite pillars and portico in front, plus some brick spans and the clock tower. The portion to be preserved lay outside the site for the Cultural Complex and would therefore cause no development problems.
(2) It would not be appropriate to pass on this information
as it is an internal Government matter. I know of no government in the world which exposes its internal decision making processes to public scrutiny.
(3)
{wi
The Urban Council, when asked for its views on the recommendation of the Antiquities Advisory Board, opposed the recommendation and recommended that the whole station building should be demolished.
(4) These were prepared by the Architectural Office of the
F P.W.D. and are not available to the public at this (5) stage. I would, however, point out that the model of
the proposed layout of the Cultural Complex and various sketches and diagrams have been publicly displayed on a number ofoccasions as follows :-
(a)
17th December 1974 to June 1975
(b) February 1976
Model, sketches and diagrams displayed in foyer of City Hall.
Revised model (incorporating latest aspects of the planetarium) displayed again in the City Hall foyer during the Arts Festival.
{
/ (c)