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The former Central Police Station, prison and court opens today after a $3.8bn renovation and transformation into Tai Kwun – Centre for Heritage and Arts.

Tai Kwun, The Chinese name for the Central Police Station, is an impressive low rise space – a full city block in American parlance – in the centre of modern high-rise Central. As with many renovations and restorations it’s very sterile, the shells of the buildings remain but the character and identity have disappeared. Will the Jockey Club administrators allow the area to organically establish a new identity and character or will political correctness and ‘rules’ keep the area ‘old’ but sterile?

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The $ums spent mean that it will not be allowed to ‘fail’ a-la PMQ but there seems to be a lack of understanding, as evidenced by the convoluted name, as to what the space is. Is it a tourist attraction, a living museum, a centre for the arts, a shopping area or a community space? It’s big enough to be all of them but the objectives and needs of each are not always mutually compatible.

There are multiple shops and restaurants scheduled to open in the next few months and the stated intent is for the commercial tenants to fund the cultural programmes and ongoing costs. This seems unrealistic given the size of the space and the ambitions of the cultural side.

A Tai Kwun pass is needed to enter the area. The prison history of the space means there are only a few small and narrow entrances and exits and nervous government bean counters have limited Tai Kwun to 5,000 people at a time. After the novelty of the area wears off entrance should be easy, but for now expect to queue.

The undoubted ‘stars’ of Tai Kwun are the courtyard and the parade ground surrounded as they are by colonial style buildings themselves imprisoned within modern steel and glass. With land so valuable, there simple isn’t this style of space in modern Hong Kong – the current high temperatures and blue skies make it even more precious to be able to see and feel the clear blue sky, much as the previous tenants of yearned to be able to do.

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Take a wander around there is a lot to see, much of which feels contrived and sterile – the prison block is the only area left almost ‘au natural’. There are exhibition spaces, performance art areas, shows, shops… A mini Hong Kong themed Disneyland in heart of Central.

Tai Kwun is unique in Hong Kong, whether the various stakeholders allow it to evolve organically or keep it sterile and ‘faux’ Hong Kong we will have to wait and see.

Tai Kwun Opening Hours: 11am – 11pm
Apply for your free Tai Kwun entry pass: https://www.taikwun.hk/en/visit/taikwun_pass

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