How campaigners helped save Hong Kong’s unique post-war State Theatre from wrecker’s ball – and why majority owner New World Development had a rethink
- Private developer changed its plan following public awareness campaign and representations from government departments
- Despite being awarded grade one status by the Antiquities Advisory Board, the theatre’s future had been in doubt
Heritage experts in Hong Kong have cheered news that government officials and a private developer have agreed to preserve an unusual post-second world war theatre that has been the subject of a long-running campaign.
New World Development, the majority owner of the State Theatre in North Point, had said earlier that it intended redeveloping the property, which meant the theatre would have been demolished.
But the developer changed its plan following a public awareness campaign and representations from government departments. In a report dated January 22, the Legislative Council’s development panel said the company reacted positively and agreed to retain the theatre even as it redeveloped the residential and commercial parts of the project.
Ho Puay-peng, adjunct professor of architecture at Chinese University, hailed as “exemplary” the treatment of the case by the Commissioner for Heritage’s Office and the Antiquities and Monuments Office, as well as New World’s openness to preserving the site.
“The news that a private developer is actively considering what it can do to conserve this building is excellent,” Ho says. “It’s a great example for Hong Kong.”
