Early run for Kai Tak stadium

From: Standard Post

The government is pushing ahead by five years the estimated completion of the proposed HK$2 billion 45,000-seat multi-purpose stadium at the former Kai Tak airport site.
While in line with Chief Executive Donald Tsang's recent pledge to kickstart long stagnating plans, the move has aroused concern that rushing the project might lead to another West Kowloon- type imbroglio.

Eddie Poon, principal assistant secretary for Home Affairs, disclosed Tuesday the stadium, which is expected to break ground in 2008, might be completed as early as 2010. Poon did not say what might happen to the Hong Kong Stadium in So Kon Po other than highlighting "it had a lot of limitations" that led to "a low usage rate."

But, as revealed by The Standard in October, the site will be sold off for luxury residential development, with the earnings earmarked for the new "Sports City" concept envisioned by Tsang, who wants to turn Kai Tak into a world- class sports venue.

This was hinted at by Poon, who noted that in the ongoing consultation on the 133-hectare former airport site, a majority of those who gave their views were in support of a mildly populated sports-focused development.

The consultation, which began in October and ends later this month, put forward three concept plans.

While all three plans included a stadium complex, a cruise terminal and a waterfront promenade, two proposals laid a greater emphasis on commercial and residential development, allotting housing for up to 128,000 people.

In what the government labeled the "Sports by the Harbour" plan, only 69,000 people will live around a 24-hectare stadium complex, which will feature a world-class venue - likely covered by a retractable roof - a 5,000-seat supplementary sports ground and an indoor sports complex with swimming pools for daily recreational use.

But critics worry that laying a timetable for a project that has yet to be drawn up or receive the public's tacit approval risks igniting the kind of explosive opposition that has so far held down plans for the West Kowloon cultural district.

Vincent Ng, chairman of the government appointed Harbourfront Enhancement Committee's harbor plan review sub-committee, shares those fears.

He warned: "Being so hurried, the government will not have time to think and plan thoroughly."

Kwok Ka-ki, medical sector lawmaker and spokesman for Action Group for Protection of the Harbour, contended that the government has not granted enough time for the Legislative Council to discuss the proposals.

He said this is despite the fact that many lawmakers have expressed reservations that all three concept plans include the stadium.

Kwok also questioned whether Hong Kong needs a world-class stadium, which, he fears, might become a "white elephant" like the HK$1 billion venue in So Kon Po. The stadium, which was completed in 1994, hosts only a few high-profile events because of severe noise restrictions.

"What we need is sports training and development," he said.

Critics also wonder why the rushed project will not be completed in time to host the 2009 East Asian Games.

Patrick Lau, Architectural, Surveying and Planning sector legislator and vice chairman of the Town Planning Board, called the mistiming "strange," "paradoxical," and "not ideal."

Lau also hoped that there will be more consultation on whether a stadium is best suited for Kai Tak, which is slated for tens of thousands of residents.

The administration has been under pressure to provide new facilities for elite athletes as a result of the decision to close Sha Tin's Hong Kong Sports Institute to make way for equestrian events, which will be held here as part of the 2008 Olympics.

The Kai Tak site, which currently houses a small golf course and a mountain of landfill, has been largely unused since the airport moved to Chek Lap Kok in July 1998 and its fate has been debated for years.

A plan to use it for a vast sports complex has been discussed since the city first decided to move the airport in the early 1990s.

Poon said in the next six months the government will study financing, operations, and design issues.