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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR F. K. HU, CHAIRMAN OF THE CULTURAL AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-The Third Festival of Asian Arts was a great success both from the point of view of box office sales and popular interest in the Festival, but in addition in respect of the very real support given by the press and the other media, here and overseas. There were packed houses for nearly all the main performances at the City Hall, whilst the supporting programme of recitals, lectures and lecture-demonstrations etc given by both local and visiting artists and experts was very well-supported. Overall box office sales, covering all performances, lectures and demonstrations, exceeded 98% with twenty-seven performances out of a total of 32 main performances at the City Hall being completely sold out, whilst the remainder were almost totally sold out. Of the recitals, lectures and lecture demonstrations etc held simultaneously at the City Hall, over half were completely sold out and most of the others were well-subscribed.
The free open air programme of the Festival, to which the organizers attach great importance, was marred somewhat by bad weather during the first week. However only a few open air performances had to be cancelled with the remainder being re-scheduled to indoor venues. Despite the bad weather, the open air programme with its variety of local and overseas performances proved most popular.
The six Festival exhibitions were of a very high standard with three of them, namely the Snuff Bottles, Chinese Bamboo Carvings and the Thai Ceramics continuing on display well beyond the two-week period of the Festival.
Over 450 overseas artists in 16 groups joined the many hundreds of local artists making the Third Festival the most comprehensive and important to date.
MR YOUNG (in English):—Mr Chairman, in view of the popularity of the festival, will the Council consider increasing the number of sessions at future festivals or even increasing the time span of the festival itself in order to avoid disappointment to the many people who were unable to buy tickets this time?
MR HU (in English):-Mr Chairman, there is no definite plan as yet to extend the period of the 4th Festival beyond the normal 2 weeks which is considered to be adequate for the purpose. However, this question will be reviewed in due course.
MR F. K. Hu asked the following question (in English):-When will the detailed design and drawings of the Ho Man Tin Football Stadium with a seating capacity of 50,000 persons be completed and what is the scheduled completion time for this Stadium?
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MR LAWRENCE H. L. FUNG, VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-The original plan for the project at Ho Man Tin was to build a football stadium for 35,000 spectators with possible expansion to 50,000; this was meant to be an ordinary stadium of regional significance. A Category B item in the Public Works Programme was created in 1970.
A Study Tour in connection with stadium planning was conducted by departmental and architectural staff in November 1977, and the team subsequently recommended a complete change of scope for the stadium including modifications to meet international standards and to house at least 50,000 spectators, all under cover; additional track and field facilities and a sports centre would be included in the overall scheme. This amounted to an upgrading of the status of the stadium to international level.
The Council approved a revised schedule of accommodation in April 1978 and a copy of the Study Tour's report together with the revised schedule of accommodation was sent to the Government Secretariat in June 1978. The department has since been negotiating with various Government departments on the question of traffic and related arrangements for the future stadium. As this project is to be financed by the Government, the Government Secretariat has asked that the change in the original scope of the project be referred back to the Public Works Sub-Committee for endorsement at its 1st Review in May 1979.
Once the change of scope in the project has been approved, the schedule of accommodation will be examined in detail. Work on the sketch plans of the stadium will commence immediately after the schedule of accommodation has been approved, and this will take about 4 months to complete.
It is expected that the whole construction programme from site formation to physical completion will take about 6 years.
MR HU (in English):—Mr Chairman, as this Council approved the revised schedule of accommodation as early as April 1978, can I be advised why arrangements could not be made for this project to be reviewed by the Public Works Sub-Committee in its last review before the end of 1978 in order to save 6 months?
MR FUNG (in English):-Mr Chairman, the Public Works Sub-Committee only meets twice a year and it was only recently that the Government Secretariat gave indication that they would like to refer this project back to the Public Works Sub-Committee for endorsement. But if it is the wish of the Council to accelerate the planning and construction of this project, I am sure the Urban Services Department would carry out the wishes of the Council in pressing the Government to give us an early answer.
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