Club support helps renovated Centre for Heritage reach out to local community

17 January 2009

A ceremony was held today (17 January) to mark the opening of The Conservancy Association Centre for Heritage in Sai Ying Pun, following a renovation made possible as part of a HK$7.79 million donation from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.  Officiating guests included the Club's Executive Director, Charities, William Y Yiu; Secretary for Development Carrie Lam; Chairman of Central and Western District Council Chan Tak Chor; Chairman of The Conservancy Association Betty Ho and Chairman of the Centre for Heritage Stephen Chan.

The Centre occupies the Annex Block of the former Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital built in 1922, which has been declared a Grade III historic building. While the building's interesting historical features like fireplaces and wooden window shutters have all been retained, the Centre now houses a multi-purpose hall for exhibitions and public lectures, a study room, two activity rooms and other facilities for holding events to promote heritage conservation.

This project reflects the Club's commitment to help Hong Kong conserve and revitalise its unique cultural heritage, complementing other major Trust-funded projects such as the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre in Sham Shui Po and the Central Police Station Compound project. Speaking at today's ceremony, Mr Yiu commented that the renovated Centre for Heritage amply demonstrated how culturally significant buildings could be given a new lease of life. "The first Chinese maternity hospital of the early 20th century is now being put to valuable use as a resource centre where an array of community participation activities can be organised for promoting cultural heritage and preserving local history," he noted.

Besides having made the Centre's renovation possible, the Trust's HK$7.79 million donation is funding a three-year community engagement and education programme to promote the preservation of cultural heritage in Hong Kong. Since its launch in October 2007, the programme has enhanced public understanding of local history and heritage conservation through activities ranging from oral presentations on Hong Kong's intangible heritage to fieldwork studies, workshops and exhibitions. So far, over 6,600 students from more than 50 schools have participated in different heritage-related activities while some 24,000 participants have joined the community engagement programme. (Details of the project are available on the website of The Conservancy Association Centre for Heritage: www.cache.org.hk)