Owner of 80-year-old Hong Kong pawn shop 'refuses to meet government' to discuss last-ditch efforts to stop demolition
The owner of an 80-year-old Hong Kong shophouse that is being demolished to make way for a commercial tower has refused to meet development minister Paul Chan Mo-po as the government made last-ditch efforts to save parts of the building, it has emerged.
The revelation was made by deputy secretary for development Albert Lam Kai-chung at an Antiquities Advisory Board special meeting today to review the heritage value of the building, which has been home to the Tung Tak Pawn Shop since as early as 1939.
The board decided to retain its grade three historic building status, contrary to activists’ call for it to be upgraded to a legally protected monument in an attempt to save it from redevelopment.
The board’s decision was in line with the recommendation by its assessment panel, which maintained that the building only warranted a grade three status – the lowest level of heritage ranking, after a review with the new findings.
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.
“I must emphasise that the decision to maintain the grade three ranking does not mean the AAB supports the redevelopment of Tung Tak Pawn Shop. It is a professional ranking under the existing mechanism,” said board chairman Andrew Lam Siu-lo.
One of the signs bearing the name of the pawn shop was removed from the building earlier this month, with metal sheets installed on the outside of the building and workers seen at the site recently. It has been set for demolition since owner Tak Shing Investment obtained approval to build a 23-storey tower on the site in 2013.
An online campaign has collected 2,000 signatures in a petition to preserve the building, after a group of researchers found new information about it and argued that its heritage value had been understated before.
Their findings were that 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.
Activist Victor Yuen Chi-yan, who staged a protest with eight others ahead of the board meeting today, said he was disappointed. “Now conservation is not decided by grading but at the owner’s wish. Property price has overridden heritage value ... If the Urban Renewal Authority just nodded its head, the building would be saved from demolition,” he said.
