SJM’s CEO Stanley Ho guaranteed that the very first building of Hotel Lisboa will be maintained, while local historians appealed to him to consider carefully over the demolition plan.
Ho admitted that the Hotel Lisboa, inaugurated in 1970, is more like a ‘cultural relics’ to many people. The design of the complex like a bird’s cage is also connected with the principles of Fong Shui, and so it will be maintained.
He expressed hopes that the result of the design contest could be due before the Lunar New Year on 6 February. The existing staff of the hotel will also not be affected as a result of the demolition plan, pledged Ho.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Macau History Association (澳門歷史學會), Chan Sü Weng (陳樹榮), pointed out that Hotel Lisboa is another landmark of Macau just after the Ruins of St. Paul’s.
Recalling that there was once an appeal to list the hotel as a protected cultural heritage as a symbol of the development of Macau’s gambling industry, he appealed to SJM to consider carefully the demolition plan.
He suggested that alternatives could be considered so that the building, which connects closely to Macau’s image as a casino city, could be maintained at the highest possible degree.
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Hotel Lisboa to be rebuilt
Architects are invited to design a new hotel complex at the present Hotel Lisboa site, which is likely to be demolished next year. The SJM issued a press release yesterday (2 January), announcing that the Hotel and Casino Lisboa will be rebuilt, and an international contest will be held to allow architects to design a new complex which will measure a total area of 17,500 square metres. The new complex is to begin construction in 2009, and is expected to be completed by 2012. The Macao Daily News reported that the existing Hotel and Casino Lisboa will be closed in 2009. Meanwhile, SJM had returned the assets of the Hotel Lisboa to the Government in July last year, in exchange for a permanent concession for ’scores of millions’ of Patacas.
Source: BlogMacau.info