SPORT AND RECREATION
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Estate playground, Wong Tai Sin Resettlement Estate rest garden and Tong Mei Road playground.
The Hong Kong Stadium, operated by the Hong Kong Football Association, was used during the year for football matches, athletic meetings, rallies, rehearsals, training sessions, and parades by the Police and the Royal Hong Kong Defence Force. The Boundary Street Sports Ground was frequently used by schools for athletic training and meetings. On other Council-controlled playgrounds Kaifong Associations organized performances of Chinese opera in aid of charities. At Chinese New Year the annual fair was held on the hard-surfaced games area in the Victoria Park.
By arrangement with the bands of the Police Force, the Regiments stationed in Hong Kong, the St John Ambulance Brigade and other local organizations, regular concerts were held in public parks and playgrounds in the urban areas. The model boating pool in Victoria Park is very popular and a pool is now planned for the Fa Hui park in Kowloon. Modern equipment was installed in a number of playgrounds and by the end of the year construction had started on a children's library in Lei Cheng Uk public playground.
The Victoria Park swimming pool, which is built to Olympic standards, is a favourite rendezvous for swimmers, especially for children. Admission fees are very reasonable and special arrange- ments can be made for groups of school children and children sponsored by welfare agencies. The total number of persons who used the pool in 1961 was 252,202 (126,745 children and 125,457 adults).
Work on a large public swimming pool at Kowloon Tsai is nearing completion. Construction of the pool which will be to Olympic standards has been made possible by a donation of $2,000,000 from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club. It will have separate areas for competition swimming, diving, and general bathing and two sections for children. A park which will extend over 35 acres and contain playing fields, and other amenities is also planned for the same area.
The Department is also responsible for the development and maintenance of gardens and places of public recreation; for the tending of trees and ornamental gardens in public places in the urban areas, and for the clearance of undergrowth at road junctions
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