Hong Kong Park

:"This article is about a park in Central, Hong Kong. For general information on the parks in Hong Kong,
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pic=HongKongParkpathway.jpg

Hong Kong Park is a public park, located next to Cotton Tree Drive, in Central, Hong Kong, China.It covers an area of 80,000 m² and is an example of modern design and facilities blending with natural landscape.

History

Part of the site was known as Cantonment Hill in early colonial days in 1841. At the upper part of the former location of the Victoria Barracks, built between 1867 and 1910, the barracks were handed to the government in 1979, which turned the area into the present park. Hong Kong Park was open to public in May 1991. It covers an area of 8 hectares and is an outstanding example of modern design and facilities blending with the natural landscape.

Historic Buildings

* Flagstaff House (1846), since 1984 housing the Flagstaff House Museum of Teaware

A few historic buildings of former Victoria Barracks were also conserved in the park, including:
* Cassels Block (early 20th century), former barracks for married British officers. Now housing the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre since 1992
* Rawlinson House (early 20th century), former house of the British Deputy General, converted in the 1980s into Cotton Tree Drive Marriage Registry and the Office of the Park.
* Wavell House (early 20th century), former quarters for married British officers, conerted in 1991 into the aviary support centre (Education Centre).

These historic buildings are graded as Grade II Historic Buildings. [ [http://www.amo.gov.hk/form/historical.pdf List of Graded Historic buildings in Hong Kong(As at 6 Jan 2007)] ]

The park can be easily reached by walking through the Pacific Place and its nearby escalator.

Facilities

Hong Kong Park captures the natural landscape in the busy and crowd business centre and provides a relaxing environment. Its main feature is Edward Youde Aviary which is the Hong Kong's largest aviary while the Vantage Point is another great place to see the "bird exhibition". Moreover, inside the Hong Kong Park, there is a greenhouse(Forsgate Conservatory) which holds "plant exhibition" such as "Orchid Exhibition" temporarily. There are also many modern gardens, including Garden Plaza and Tai Chi Garden. In order to suit the sport-lovers, a sport centre and a squash centre were also built in Hong Kong Park.

Awards

* The design of the park won Honour Award for Urban Design (1998) of Hong Kong Chapter, the American Institute of Architects. [ [http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/199901/05/0105075.htm Hong Kong Park wins US architectural award] ,Hong Kong Government] , [ [http://www.fecel.com/FE_awards_main.htm Awards] ,Far East Consultant Engineering]

* The Park was awarded as one of the Top Ten Buildings of the 90s by a building journal in March, 2000. [ [http://www.building.com.hk/feature/03_00topten.htm Top Ten Buildings of the 90s] ,Building Journal ]

See also

* List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong
* List of urban public parks and gardens of Hong Kong

References

External links

* [http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/LEISURE/LM/parks/hkp/index.html Hong Kong Park]
* [http://www2.netvigator.com/eng/museum/Visual.html The Hong Kong Visual Art Centre]