XN000022-1983-06-16 — Page 5

THURSDAY, JUNE 16, 1983

LARGE OFFICE COMPLEX BEING BUILT

***

GOVERNMENT'S EFFORT TO REDUCE ITS DEPENDENCE ON LEASED OFFICE SPACE TOOK A SIGNIFICANT STEP FORWARD TODAY WHEN THE FOUNDATION STONE WAS LAID FOR HARBOUR BUILDING, THE FIRST OF A NUMBER OF LARGE OFFICE COMPLEXES TO BE BUILT BY THE GOVERNMENT.

THE 27-STOREY BUILDING, SITUATED IN CONNAUGHT ROAD CENTRAL TO THE EAST OF THE RUMSEY STREET MULTI-STOREY CARPARK, IS SCHEDULED FOR COMPLETION IN MID-1985.

THE SECRETARY FOR LANDS AND WORKS, MR DAVID MCDONALD, WHO OFFICIATED AT THE FOUNDATION STONE LAYING CEREMONY TODAY, SAID THAT RECENTLY MANY GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS SUCH AS THE FIRE BRIGADE BUILDING, THE MARINE DEPARTMENT HEADQUARTERS, MURRAY HOUSE AND THE VARIOUS BLOCKS IN THE OLD VICTORIA BĀRRACKS AREA, HAD TO BE GIVEN UP TO ALLOW FOR OTHER DEVELOPMENTS TO PROCEED.

+HARBOUR BUILDING, WHEN COMPLETED IN ABOUT TWO YEARS, WILL PROVIDE 36 000 SQUARE METRES OF OFFICE SPACES TO ACCOMMODATE GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS, INCLUDING THE MARINE DEPARTMENT HEADQUARTERS WHICH IS CURRENTLY SITUATED IN LEASED PREMISES,✦ HE SAID.

+THE SITUATION WILL IMPROVE AS MORE, PROJECTS SUCH AS THIS ARE COMPLETED, HE ADDED.

TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE PEDESTRIAN FOOTBRIDGE NETWORK IN CENTRAL, MR MCDONALD SAID, THE DESIGN OF THE BUILDING HAD MADE PROVISION FOR PEDESTRIAN ACCESS AT THE FIRST FLOOR LEVEL.

+ANOTHER FEATURE IS THAT PART OF THE SITE AREA AT GROUND LEVEL WILL BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AS A PROMENADE BETWEEN THE AREAS TO BE DEVELOPED BY THE URBAN COUNCIL AS OPEN SPACES ON TWO SIDES OF THE BUILDING, HE SAID,

THIS WOULD ADD TO THE EASE WITH WHICH THE PUBLIC MIGHT USE THESE WELCOME AMENITIES IN THE CENTRAL DISTRICT, MR MCDONALD ADDED.

EARLIER, THE ACTING DIRECTOR OF BUILDING DEVELOPMENT,

MR JOSEPH LEI, TOLD THE GATHERING AT THE CEREMONY THAT THE DESIGN OF THE PROJECT HAD TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION, AMONG OTHER

IMPORTANT ASPECTS, THE MAXIMUM USE OF THE SITE DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL.

WHEN COMMISSIONED, HE ADDED, THE BUILDING WOULD HELP REDUCE THE SHORTFALL OF GOVERNMENT OFFICE ACCOMMODATION.

15