Pictures of different areas of the redesigned Police Married Quarters proposed by the Musketeers Education and Culture Charitable Foundation. Provided to China Daily

Former police quarters to serve as arts center, expecting 5,000 jobs

A charity under the chairmanship of the Hong Kong Economic Times (HKET) has beaten out two other competitors in the bid to redevelop the Chief Executive's childhood home into an arts hub.

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Carrie Lam said Musketeers Education and Culture Charitable Foundation (MECCF)'s winning proposal for the Central Police Married Quarters (PMQ) stood out because it was "very strong in terms of providing opportunities for public enjoyment".

Striking out in a rapidly centrifying area, the project's "location is exactly where this PMQ's advantage lies. I'm very attracted to the PMQ proposal because it has the idea of helping the creative industry to become more entrepreneurial," she said. The proximity of the location to Central and its drawing power for tourists created a unique opportunity for resident artists and businesses, Lam added.

With the two-year-old Foundation donating HK$110 million as seed money, and under an entitlement to operate the hub for a decade, MECCF and HKET chairman Lawrence Fung said there is a lack of space for aspiring artists. He added, the project would serve as a platform for more start-ups.

Foundation co-founder and HKET non-executive director Stanley Chu hoped the creative cluster would promote original design and brand manufacturing.

The 59-year-old grade three historical building will cost HK$420 million to renovate. It is expected to be in operation by 2014 with nominal rents. The project is expected to operate in the black by 2019.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang, whose father was a policeman, grew up in the PMQ.

The plan for the site below Aberdeen Street, which was unveiled Monday, envisage half of the open area of the 15,400 square meter complex, as arrayed like two opposing walls. It will have a sheltering three-storey roof punctuated by skylights and adorned with a rooftop garden.

The second half of the open space will be enclosed like a giant greenhouse to serve as a weatherproof event venue.

Expected to draw 5,000 creative professionals and half a million visitors a year, the new center will include galleries, shops, studios, cafes. The foundation stones of the old Central School, the predecessor of Queen's College, where Sun Yat-sen studied, will be preserved at the site.

The redevelopment, earmarked for the creative arts industry in the Chief Executive's 2009-2010 Policy Address, drew criticism for lack of transparency and public participation in the vetting of applications.

However Deputy CEDB Secretary Bernard Chan said these were not significant issues, since the site's purpose had already been established and the government could best weigh the merits, and financial implications, of each proposal.

China Daily

(HK Edition 11/16/2010 page1)