The government’s Development Bureau has unveiled the potential costs for restoring the Queen’s Pier – which was dismantled in 2007 despite protests. The three proposals are set to cost between HK$230 million and HK$303 million.
The bureau’s Principal Assistant Secretary Christine Au Wing-yan attended a Central and Western District Council meeting on Thursday presenting the costs. The plans were revealed at a Harbourfront Commission meeting in late February, but the bureau did not include the costs in the documents then.
The final report of a study by the Planning Department published in 2011 concluded that Queen’s Pier should be relocated between Pier 9 and Pier 10 in Central.
The three plans laid out different options for how to modify Pier 9 and Pier 10’s curved glass roofs – which came into use in 2007 – in order to achieve a coherent design for the reassembled pier.
Option A will replace the current roofs with pitched roofs so as to form a “harmonious roof design of the pier cluster.”
It is the most expensive option, costing HK$303 million, reported Ming Pao.
Option B would leave the current roofs intact, but will construct gable walls to “serve as a visual transition” between Piers 9 and 10 and the reassembled Queen’s Pier, and also glazing canopies to connect the three piers.
It will cost HK$248 million, according to the newspaper.
Option C would only involve minimal construction works to the existing covered walkway to make way for the reassembled pier.
It would cost HK$230 million, according to the newspaper.
After consulting with the District Council, the Civil Engineering and Development Department is to set up a website and put up display boards on the details of the plans to engage the public between this month and May.
Subject to the result of community engagement, the government will submit an application to the Town Planning Board for approval of using the site where the Queen’s Pier will be relocated.
Then, with approval of the Town Planning Board, the government intends to seek funding approval from the Legislative Council in late 2016 or early 2017 to start reassembly works in the third quarter of 2017. The pier may be reopened by the second quarter of 2019.
