Man Mo Temple, Grade I Historic Building. Courtesy of Commissioner for Heritage's Office

Ask anyone who has been following the news to name issues that have steadily gained momentum over the past few years, heritage protection is bound to be one of them.

"The sentiment (toward heritage conservation) was triggered when the Star Ferry Pier had to go at the end of 2006," said Maggie Brooke, chartered surveyor and convenor of non-profit conservation group Heritage Hong Kong.

"Then it came Queen's Pier which really did focus the public attention on the issue. People were for the first time asking: why are we not consulted on such matters?" she said.

According to Brooke, that's when heritage conservation gained its political edge.

The government is certainly taking notice. One of its major moves was to launch in February this year the Revitalizing Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme. This was followed two months later by the establishment of the Commissioner for Heritage's Office (CHO) in April.

Under the current arrangement, government-owned historic buildings considered suitable for adaptive re-use would be identified for inclusion in the scheme.

Heritage Commissioner Jack Chan (far right) inspects a mock excavation site at the Antiquities and Monuments Office Courtesy of Commissioner for Heritage's Office

According to Jack Chan, Heritage Commissioner who heads the office, apart from being "historic" and "government-owned", the selected buildings have to be "structurally fit", meaning they have to be safe. And the location cannot be "too remote and out of the way" for it to be financially viable once put to reuse.

The commissioner emphasized that the scheme was devised not because the government had any problem maintaining those buildings. "We have both the expertise and the money. But the point is: we want to see them put to creative use," he said.

Before May 21, applicants were invited by the government to submit proposals for using these buildings to provide services or business in the form of social enterprise. To be eligible, applicants have to be non-profit-making organizations with a charitable status. This leaves no doubt that the vast business sector will be excluded from participating in the scheme.

"Because these government-owned historic buildings are considered public resources and because the government will pay for the renovation of the buildings, we think it would be acceptable to the people of Hong Kong if the offers are restricted to non-profit organizations," said Chan.

And given the status of her organization, one wouldn't be surprised that Brooke has found this approach "very sensible".

"Heritage buildings belong to the community and should be used for community purposes," she said. "Non-profit-making organizations will not immediately seek to redevelop the building and try to maximize the profit."

Brooke's Heritage Hong Kong has submitted a plan for the historic Blue House Cluster - a late addition to the seven buildings formerly listed under the scheme.

But not everyone agrees, especially those from the private business sector.

Gregory De'eb is the co-founder of Crown Wine Cellars. It cost him and his business partner Jim Thompson 18 months and HK$20 million to transform some underground World War II bunkers tucked in Shouson Hill into arguably Asia's best wine cellars.

"Ours are what I called the 'unloved heritage buildings'. It's underground, hidden in the mountains and involves massive zoning problems," he said. "But if you look at the seven buildings included in the scheme, their situation is much more simple and clear-cut."

"Each of them is an above-the-ground structure sitting on a very valuable piece of land. And all of them can be easily transformed to house some viable business," he said. (This may not be entirely true, keeping in mind that one of the seven buildings is the Old Tai O Police Station on the Lantau Island. The building's remote location explains why it has received the least number of proposals - five out of 114 for the seven buildings.)

"You cannot pay people to look after something," said De'eb, alluding to the fact that under the scheme, the government will provide financial support to successful applicants including an uncapped one-off grant to cover the cost of major renovations and another grand capped at HK$5 million to meet the starting costs and operating deficits of the social enterprise for a maximum of the first two years.

However, if you listen to Brooke, the money is hardly an incentive. "The project will cost anyone much more than the government has promised. The sheer cost of running it would be enormous and we'll all need to go out and raise more money at some point," she said.

"We are not paid to do this. Instead, we are agents of the government and are taking care of the historic buildings on its behalf."

Maggie Brooke, convenor of non-profit conservation group Heritage Hong Kong. Edmond Tang

In fact, according to her, the conditions of the historic buildings are often so bad that very few private businesses will take them on despite their complaints about being left out in the scheme.

"Those buildings are out of shape and they're either too small or enormous. And some of them cannot be transformed into anything at all within heritage boundaries," she said, referring to one of the scheme's prerequisites that the buildings must be put to compatible reuse. "As a result, it's impossible to make money out of it."

"These people (private enterprises) said they are interested in heritage conservation but what they really want is a perfect building that can be readily converted into a deluxe hotel," she said.

However, all sides agree that having diverse options is probably the best approach.

"We have other historic buildings which are available for commercialization. For example we have the Peak Caf which is a high-end restaurant," said Chan, the Heritage Commissioner. That building was originally used as a shelter for sedan chairs transporting local residents up and down the Peak.

And according to Brookes, well-motivated private organizations should be given the chance, although this would probably mean that the renovated building will be taken much further up the market. She cited the Crown Wine Cellars as an example.

"The renovation of the Crown Wine Cellars has been done meticulously. But there are probably only 30 people in Hong Kong who could actually enjoy it," she said. (The cellar's club currently has 330 full membership holders.)

"But there should be no constraints in the conservation aspect. Private enterprises should be allowed to do it as long as they refurbish and manage the building according to the standards just like we do," she said.

One of the arguments private enterprises often use against non-profit-making organizations is that they are doing the job with their own money. "The building still belongs to the government even though we are not spending any taxpayers' money," said De'eb.

Brooke countered the view with a simple question: why shouldn't taxpayers be paying for heritage conservation?

"I don't see why taxpayers' money shouldn't be used to make Hong Kong more interesting."

Meanwhile, she noted that a change of mentality toward heritage conservation has taken place in Hong Kong over the past few years. It is the government's responsibility to ask the public how much they are willing to pay to preserve the city's history.

"A survey was done recently by Harbour Forum to find out how much the public are willing to pay for the development of our harborfront," she said. "About 20 percent said no, which was roughly what we expected."

"But from there the number gradually built up and there's a large percentage of people who said they were willing to pay between HK$500 to HK$1,000 per month for the harborfront, which is quite a sum," she said. "And I believe when it comes to heritage conservation, people will be just as forthcoming."

According to Brooke, the fundamental reason that lies behind the new-found passion for heritage conservation in Hong Kong is that for more and more people, the city has ceased to be a transit stop and has become their permanent home.

"Only in the past 10 years that people have started thinking of living in Hong Kong for the rest of their lives," said Brooke, who came to Hong Kong in the 80s with her husband and has since then stayed.

"And we want to live in a storied environment."

(HK Edition 09/30/2008 page4)