-
- 5-
of $530,000.
8.
It is not considered necessary to proceed immediately
with the building of a new City Hall.
This matter is not
of great urgency since owing to its condition the present
building has for some time been little used. When the new
Government House is finished it is proposed that the present
shall
Government House/be made available for use as a City Hall
during the interval which will elapse before the second stage
It is considered that the
of the scheme is completed.
recently reconstructed ball-room and offices will as a temporary measure be adequate for the purposes for which the City Hall
has been used in the past.
9. I therefore request your authority to proceed with
negotiations for the inception of that part of the scheme which deals with the disposal of the City Hall and Beaconsfield
Arcade sites and the rebuilding of Government House. This will involve also the acquisition of Inland Lot 564.
10. I should be glad also to receive your consent to the acquisition of Inland Lot 580 at present owned by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, an opportunity for which now presents itself. The Bank is prepared to hand over this
lot to Government in part payment for the area required for
extension of its present premises.
One of two houses on
the lot has been demolished as it had become unsafe and it is
of the utmost importance to the future development of the Colony
that this area should be laid out in such a way as not to
interfere with access to the middle and upper levels. has been valued provisionally at $622,750.
11.
The lot
The scheme has been considered by the unofficial
members of the Legislative Council in the Public Works Committee
of