從四個保育案例看香港古蹟制度的敗處🗿竟然沒有法律保障歷史建築物!?
皇后碼頭/
皇后碼頭以現代主義建築形式興建而成，原是皇后像廣場的停泊處，只供香港總督及英國主要官員往返香港時使用。後來改建成皇后碼頭，價值不止是其現代主義建築，還有它作為記錄香港人集體回憶的公共空間。政府以發展為由，竟帶頭將這個一級歷史建築清拆。十三年後，至今仍沒有重建計劃。其實香港的「歷史建築」只有參考作用，沒有法律效力；「法定古蹟」才有法律保障。即使近年政府提出，被評為一級歷史建築能被接納為已列入具高度價值的建築，增加成為法定古蹟機會，但很多歷史建築因私人業權問題難以保育，最後也只能落得清拆下場，例如「同德大押」(grade III) 和「何東花園」(grade I)。
「古蹟辦」被笑稱「估即辦」，考察過程草率了事
皇都戲院/
皇都戲院已經有六十九年歷史，它作為香港昔日娛樂事業風光年代的證據，也盛載我們的集體回憶。國際保育專業組織 Docomomo International在一六年發出「文物危急警示」促請為它評級為一級歷史建築，但古蹟辦被揭發對戲院的內部改動情況不充分掌握就草率提出將戲院列為三級歷史建築的建議。先不論古蹟辦考察過程透明度之低，其中一位負責評審的學者竟說：「假若漢墓值5分，清代（建築）最多4分，咁皇都幾多分？」(bio有「活現香港」皇都戲院評級爭議懶人包的link)，從這話可看出他們的想法已與現今保育方向脫節。幸好最後古諮會評定它為一級，現時被新世界發展商收購，是首個發展商主動提出的活化項目。
Queen's Pier; No legal protection for historical buildings
Built in the form of modernist architecture, its value lies in its use as a public space that records the Hong Kong people’s collective memory. The government demolished this first-class historic building for the new development scheme. In fact, Hong Kong’s "historical buildings" are only for reference and have no legal validity; only "declared monuments" have legal protection. Even though the government has proposed in recent years that historic buildings rated as Grade I can be accepted as buildings of high value which increasing the chance of becoming statutory monuments, many historic buildings are difficult to preserve due to private ownership issues, and they can only be demolished in the end.
State Theatre; ‘Antiquities and Monuments Office’ teased as ‘Assumption Making Office’ . The inspection process was regarded as hasty
It has a history of 69 years. It serves as evidence of Hong Kong's past entertainment industry and also contains our collective memories as a HKer. Docomomo International, an international conservation professional organization, issued the "Cultural Relics Emergency Warning" in 2016, urging it to be graded as a Grade I historical building. However, the AMO was revealed that it did not fully acknowledge the internal changes to the theatre and rashly proposed to list it as a Grade III historical building. It is currently being purchased by the New World Development and is the first conservation project proposed by the developer.
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