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RECREATION
Government made it possible to add a children's playground and library to the facilities. Four tennis courts were built on land close to the public swimming pool and the Colony's first all-weather running track of 400 metres was constructed.
A second all-weather running track of 300 metres was opened at Perth Street Sports Ground. This project, financed by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, also provides two mini-soccer pitches, two basket ball courts, a volleyball court, changing rooms, and a refreshment kiosk. In Kowloon the first stage of Morse Park, now complete, offers a model boating pool, with shelter, a coloured fountain, three garden areas, a children's play area and a roller- skating rink. Towards the end of the year, work began on the second stage which will provide nine grass football pitches.
Perhaps the most imaginative recreational project of the year was the design adopted for district swimming pools. Each complex will accommodate up to 5,000 people and will provide separate pools for teaching, diving, and children and there will be facilities for competitive swimming at international standards. Construction of two of these projects has begun. One, at Lei Cheng Uk, will serve the densely populated area of north-west Kowloon; the other, which will be surrounded by an 11-acre park, will serve the industrial area of Kwun Tong.
In the New Territories, the provision of village playgrounds continued at an accelerated rate. The Tai Po sports ground includes a cinder running track, basketball court, children's playground, mini-soccer pitch, and changing facilities. A running track was also included in the Tsuen Wan sports ground in addition to a grass football pitch, basketball courts, volleyball courts and changing
rooms.
The Urban Council and the Urban Services Department, continu- ing their amenity planting programme, planted tens of thousands of trees, shrubs and seasonal flowers during the year.
Hong Kong's bathing beaches have become increasingly crowded, and 1,188,978 people used the two swimming pools at Kowloon Tsai and Victoria Park. Regular life saving services are provided by the Urban Services Department and, at the height of the season, teams from the St John Ambulance Brigade and the Hong Kong