Where once stood a quarry, rose Hong Kong’s first open-air theatre complex

“The Urban Council will soon give Hongkong its first open-air theatre, complete with tennis courts and garden, at a cost of about $16 million. The project is earmarked for Ko Shan Road in Hunghom,” reported the South China Morning Post on June 27, 1978. “The theatre will accommodate 3,000 people. One thousand seats will be under cover and the remainder in the open. The theatre is being planned and designed by consulting architects engaged by the Government […] Work is expected to begin at the end of this year.”

On March 30, 1983, the Post reported that “the Chief Secretary, Sir Philip Haddon-Cave, has raised the curtain on one of the Urban Council’s newest and biggest projects – Ko Shan Road park and theatre complex. On a 5 ½ -hectare site beside Ko Shan Road where there used to be a quarry, there now stands a modern 3000-seat open-air theatre and an imaginative public park featuring gardens, a playground and sports facilities. It took two years and $50 million to build.

“The theatre is the first purpose-built open-air playhouse in Hongkong. Covering an area of 2,500 square metres, it features a 150 sq m stage, sophisticated lighting, sound and projection systems, and an orchestra pit for 70 to 80 musicians. The stage and 1,000 of the seats in the fan-shaped auditorium are under cover, and another 2,000 seats are open to the sky. It is intended for various presentations, such as Cantonese opera, orchestral concerts, pop and variety shows, plays and dance performances.

“Sir Philip added that recent reforms in local government should enable the authorities to react better to the recreational needs of given areas. ‘In this part of Kowloon, venues for public entertainment – whether pop concerts or Cantonese opera – are few in number; and sports facilities of all kinds are as yet insufficient. The Ko Shan Theatre, with its sophisticated equipment and impressive back-up facilities, will help to correct the shortage of venues for entertainment, and its floodlit minisoccer pitch and tennis courts will, I am sure, be fully utilised.’