| Hong Kong Cultural Centre | |
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| The centre's exterior in August 2014 | |
| General information | |
| Address | 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong |
| Construction started | 1986 |
| Completed | 1989 |
| Inaugurated | 8 November 1989 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architecture firm | Architectural Services Department |
| Website | |
| hkculturalcentre.gov.hk | |
| Hong Kong Cultural Centre | |||||||||||
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| Chinese | 香港文化中心 | ||||||||||
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The Hong Kong Cultural Centre (香港文化中心) is a public multipurpose performance facility in Tsim Sha Tsui,Hong Kong. Located at Salisbury Road,it was built by the former Urban Council and,since 2000,has been administered by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong Government. A wide variety of cultural performances are held here.
The centre is located on the southwestern tip of Tsim Sha Tsui,on the former location of the Kowloon station of the Kowloon–Canton Railway. Adjacent to the centre on the west is the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier of the Star Ferry,while to the east are the Hong Kong Space Museum and Hong Kong Museum of Art. The historic Clock Tower stands between the centre and the pier.
As early as 1970,the Urban Council pressed for construction of a new cultural venue in Kowloon of the same modern standard as the City Hall in Central. [1] The cultural centre project was formally announced in 1974 to be planned on the site of the former Kowloon station. At this time,construction was expected to begin in 1975. [2] However,the project faced financial constraints and was delayed. It was reexamined in 1978 and given top priority by the Urban Council,but cost estimates rose from $190 million to $474 million and the project was again shelved for some time. [3] When construction finally began,the demolition of the historic railway station occupying the site was extremely controversial.
The centre was designed by then-Public Works Department chief architect JoséLei. [4] Originally operated by the Urban Council,the venue was officially opened in a ceremony on 8 November 1989 officiated by Charles,Prince of Wales and Princess Diana,who unveiled a commemorative plaque. [5] The $10 million Rieger Orgelbau organ was installed from August to November in 1989 and involved the complicated installation of 8,000 pipes. [5]
The cultural centre opened with the International Celebration of the Arts,a special programme that ran from 5 November to 6 December and showcased Hong Kong musicians,Kunju opera,Cantonese music,and performances by a range of international artists including the Cologne Opera,the Alban Berg Quartett,Sadao Watanabe,and the first Hong Kong appearance of guitarist John Williams. [6]
The centre is adjacent to the Star Ferry Pier and the Star Ferry bus terminus served by Kowloon Motor Bus.
It is also within walking distance to Tsim Sha Tsui station and East Tsim Sha Tsui station,which serve the Tsuen Wan line and Tuen Ma line respectively.
Kowloon is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of 43,033/km2 (111,450/sq mi) in 2006. It is one of the three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is the smallest, second most populous and most densely populated of the divisions.
Yau Tsim Mong District is one of 18 districts of Hong Kong, located on the western part of Kowloon Peninsula. It is the core urban area of Kowloon. The district has the second highest population density of all districts, at 49,115 km2 (18,963 sq mi). The 2016 By-Census recorded the total population of Yau Tsim Mong District at 342,970.
Yau Ma Tei is an area in the Yau Tsim Mong District in the south of the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.
Tsim Sha Tsui, often abbreviated as TST, is an area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsim Sha Tsui. The area is bounded north by Austin Road and in the east by Hong Chong Road and Cheong Wan Road.
The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) is the first and main art museum of Hong Kong, located in Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. It is a public museum managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong Government. HKMoA has an art collection of over 17,000 items. Admission is free for permanent exhibitions. Its rival is the non-government-managed Hong Kong Arts Centre. These two museums are considered to be the top two art museums in Hong Kong that dictate the discourse of art in Hong Kong.
West Kowloon, named after West Kowloon Reclamation Project as a part of Airport Core Programme, is the western part of Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong, situated within the Yau Tsim Mong District and Sham Shui Po District. The reclamation spanned from mid-1990s to mid-2003, but major part was completed in 1990s. It represents the new coast area facing Victoria Harbour and West Kowloon Cultural District is its focal point. Multiple railway stations, namely Nam Cheong, Olympic, Austin, Kowloon and Hong Kong West Kowloon stations, are within the area.
Salisbury Road is a major road in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
The Wan Chai Pier, or Wan Chai Ferry Pier, is a pier at the coast of Wan Chai North on the Hong Kong Island of Hong Kong. The pier is operated by Star Ferry, and provides ferry services to Tsim Sha Tsui. The pier is near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Kowloon Park is a large public park in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It has an area of 13.3 hectares and is managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
Kowloon station, colliquially Old Tsim Sha Tsui Terminal, located in Tsim Sha Tsui on the present site of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, was the former southern terminus of the Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR).
Middle Road is a street in the southern part of Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui, or Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier, is a pier located on reclaimed land at the southernmost tip of Tsim Sha Tsui on Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. It is commonly known as Star Ferry Pier (天星碼頭) in Tsim Sha Tsui. Star Ferry operates the pedestrian ferry service across Victoria Harbour to Wan Chai and to Central on Hong Kong Island. The location is identified as "Kowloon Point" in the franchise held by Star Ferry.
The Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre is a public cultural center located in the Kowloon Park, Haiphong Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The Centre occupies the historic Blocks S61 and S62 of the former Whitfield Barracks at the Kowloon Park.
Jordan Road Ferry Pier or Ferry Point (1924–1998) is a demolished pier originally located at Jordan Road, Jordan, Hong Kong.
Tsim Sha Tsui Centre and Empire Centre (帝國中心) are two office buildings and shopping malls in East Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. They are connected by a covered pedestrian bridge.
Tai Kok Tsui Ferry Pier (1972–1992) was a ferry pier in Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It started operation in 1972, together with an adjacent bus terminus, to replace the Mong Kok Ferry Pier in Mong Kok. It provided a ferry service to and from Central, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, Mainland China. Its cross-boundary ferry terminal position was replaced by the Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui in 1988. It was then closed in 1992 to cope with land reclamation work for the Airport Core Programme. The bus terminus remained in use until it was relocated to a new reclaimed area in west Tai Kok Tsui in 1995. The pier has been reclaimed and the HSBC Centre now stands where the former bus terminal used to be.
Hung Hom Ferry Pier is a ferry pier in Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is at the reclaimed Hung Hom Bay at the south of Lily Mansion, Whampoa Garden.
Kowloon Public Pier or Tsim Sha Tsui Public Pier is a public pier in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It approaches Hong Kong Cultural Centre and Victoria Harbour. Any boat can freely park at the pier.
Tsim Sha Tsui East Ferry Pier was a ferry pier in Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon. The pier was firstly located outside Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel (九龍香格里拉酒店) but moved to outside Grand Stanford InterContinental Hong Kong (海景嘉福酒店) after 2000. It was closed and demolished in 2008.
The Tsim Sha Tsui East Waterfront Podium Garden is a public garden located in southern Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was constructed by the Tourism Commission of Hong Kong in 2007, and has been operating under Leisure and Cultural Services Department as a public space ever since. The site currently hosts the Avenue of Stars under the name "Garden of Stars" as part of an ongoing waterfront revitalisation project.