The old police station in Tai O is to be given a facelift but its colonial architecture and bullet marks borne from the second world war will be retained under a revitalisation scheme.
Built on a hill at Tai O on Lantau in 1902, the two-storey, concrete-and-brick building offers a clear view of the sea between Hong Kong and the mainland.
The police station was responsible for monitoring safety at sea, especially the activities of illegal migrants and pirates, for more than a century, until it was closed in 1996 because of the low crime rate in Tai O.
After lying idle more than 10 years, the building has been earmarked by the government to be turned into a boutique hotel, cafe-cum-museum or a centre for ecotourism.
Ten NGOs yesterday visited the site as potential operators of the building after renovation.
The successful applicant will receive a government subsidy of up to HK$5 million.
Fione Lo Sau-lai, curator of the heritage and museums division of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, said the operator would have to preserve certain features of the building.
"This building is very typical of British colonial architecture," Ms Lo said.
"Its platform was raised several feet from the ground because of the humid climate of Hong Kong.
"And for defence purposes, steel or extra-thick wooden window bars and screens were installed on every floor. These features have to be maintained and revitalised."
She said the bullet marks on one of the steel window screens were said to have been made by Japanese soldiers who tried to take over the police station in the second world war.
Other features to be retained and revitalised include the armoury, two searchlights, the lookout tower, arched corridors, verandas connecting the main building with the rest of the complex, the two cells in the report room, wooden ceilings and floors, and the fireplaces in every room. Rooms were furnished according to the rank of the 17 or so police officers stationed there, said Carmen Wong Ka-man, assistant curator of the Antiquities and Monuments Office.
She said in the colonial era there was a clear differentiation between classes, based on race. Most frontline jobs went to Indians, clerical work to the Chinese and senior roles to Europeans.
The senior staff rooms that occupied the upper floor were larger and had a bathroom, fireplace and French windows. There was also a clubhouse, known as the Parrot's Nest with stained glass French windows, carpets and a bar.
Ms Lo said any changes made to the building after the renovation would have to be approved by the government.
Other sites in the scheme to revitalise buildings are the old Tai Po police station, Lui Seng Chun tenement building in Mong Kok, Lai Chi Kok Hospital, North Kowloon Magistracy in Sham Shui Po, Fong Yuen Study Hall in Ma Wan and Mei Ho House in Shek Kip Mei.
SCMP. Mar 11, 2008
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