Central Police Station is now the Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts, where fond Hong Kong tales live on

It is the 1970s and a policeman is called to the scene of a robbery in Central. As he rushes down the smooth granite slabs of Pottinger Street in his heel-tapped boots, he slips and falls, an incident earning him the nickname “Slippery Sir”.

The tale is among dozens of anecdotes and memories – some bittersweet, others humorous – illustrated in an inaugural exhibit at the restored Central Police Station. The displays will showcase the storied history of the compound and its surroundings in a partial opening to the public on Tuesday.

The “100 Faces of Tai Kwun” is the first public exhibition to be held in what is now the Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts, following the completion of an eight-year, HK$3.8 billion (US$484 million) revitalisation project by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Former Hong Kong prison and police station turned arts complex to open this month after US$485 million, eight-year restoration

Tai Kwun, or Big Station, is the colloquial name for the 300,000 sq ft compound.

“This was a great opportunity for us to gain a better understanding of Tai Kwun, as well as its role in the community,” Winnie Yeung Wing-yin, the centre’s head of heritage, said.

The compound, built between 1864 and 1925, comprises 16 historic buildings grouped under the police station, the former Central Magistracy and Victoria Prison. The exhibition is located in a block which used to be the complex’s headquarters along Hollywood Road.