Coming Down Alert – Hong Kong’s Ho Tung Gardens to be Demolished

Despite myself and others believing that things may have been improving as regards heritage and preservation in Hong Kong – it appears not. The HK SAR government admitted a policy failure following its decision to give up on a plan to save the historic Ho Tung Gardens on The Peak. It has also bowed to public pressure and abandoned a scheme to redevelop the west wing of the former government headquarters in Central. the government claims the public doesn’t want to spend tax money on renovation and preservation.

the Ho Tung mansion and gardens were built in 1927 by the well known comprador family. It will be replaced with housing units! The heritage authorities  called the mansion a “rare history building” and “probably the earliest surviving example, of Chinese renaissance architecture in Hong Kong”. Now it’s going

The South China Morning Post on the debacle here

Ho Tung Gardens and mansion in the foreground left