JOYCE NGjoyce.ng@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Monday, 24 August, 2015, 12:00am
UPDATED : Monday, 24 August, 2015, 12:20am
Hong Kong heritage experts conclude that doomed Wan Chai pawn shop is not worth a higher historic grading
Antiquities experts have concluded that a pre-war pawn shop in Wan Chai that is being demolished warrants only the lowest level of heritage ranking, despite new evidence of the building's historic value unearthed by the local community.
The expert panel's recommendation will be put to a special meeting of the Antiquities Advisory Board tomorrow to discuss a final grading for the Tung Tak Pawn Shop, which is associated with two prominent pawnbrokers dating back more than half a century.
According to a paper seen by the South China Morning Post but not yet released to the public, the panel has assessed fresh information supplied by conservationists and activists. It considered that the building should retain its grade three ranking as "the history of the pawn shop was taken into full consideration when the buildings were graded [in 2010], the rarity of the buildings was not as high as claimed... and the architecture... not innovative".
If the board agrees, it will further dampen activists' hopes of saving the building, which has been boarded up for weeks. While only declared monuments are safe from demolition, grade two buildings are subject to "selective preservations. For grade-three buildings, alternative means of preservation - such as photography - are adequate.
The block at 371 Hennessy Road was not considered rare by the experts because a dozen similar shophouses survived.
Owner Tak Shing Investment secured approval to build a 23-storey tower on the site in 2013, but the start of work on the 80-year-old building last month sparked an outcry.
Yuen Chi-yan, who collected 2,000 signatures in a petition to conserve the site, was "angry" at the panel's conclusion.
"The community has found new evidence that reveals so much history about the pawn shop," he said. "But it just got ignored."
The new information shows the lot was leased to "king of pawn shops" Li Yau-tsun in 1938 and was used as a pawn shop under the Tung Tak name as early as 1939. It was passed on to Ko Ho-ning, another famous pawnbroker, who also had a casino in Macau, in 1947.
The research also showed the block was designed by architect Raven & Basto - also responsible for local icons such as the King Yin Lei mansion on Stubbs Road.
Tony Lam Chung-wai, an architect and member of the advisory board, hoped tomorrow's meeting would provide a chance for thorough discussion of the new evidence.
"In my view it's worth grade two. You might say the architecture was not innovative at the time … but the fact is there are not so many shophouses left in the city," Lam said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1851996/hong-kong-heritage-experts-conclude-doomed-wan
