Hong Kong is considering designating the city’s first maternity hospital for Chinese people and a 130-year-old temple as monuments, with the government antiquities office citing the worship site’s value in revealing the inhumane living conditions of the 19th century.
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The Antiquities and Monuments Office on Friday sought to upgrade the heritage status of the main building of Old Tsan Yuk Maternity Hospital in Sai Ying Pun, which is the existing Western District Community Centre, and Kwong Fook Tsz temple in Sheung Wan, according to government documents.
Both buildings are currently given a grade-one status, the highest of the three-tier scale where no protection is guaranteed.
“The two historic buildings … have significant heritage value,” the office said. “They have reached the ‘high threshold’ to be declared as monuments for permanent protection.”
Opened in 1922, the hospital was established by the Chinese Public Dispensaries Committee to offer Western medical services to the community.
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It provided maternity services for Chinese women and modern training for Chinese midwives until its relocation in 1955 due to the rapidly increasing demand during the post-war period. The main building then became a community centre in 1961.