The Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) was established in 1976 under the

Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance The Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance, in Hong Kong Law (Cap. 53), was enacted in 1976 to preserve the objects of historical, archaeological and palaeontological interest and for matters ancillary thereto or connected therewith. It is admini ...

to protect and preserve

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

's historic monuments. Housed in the Former Kowloon British School, the AMO is responsible for identifying, recording and researching buildings and items of historical interest, as well as organising and coordinating surveys and

excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

in areas of archaeological significance.Homepage of the Office
/ref> The Commissioner for Heritage's Office under the

Development Bureau The Development Bureau (DEVB; ) is an agency of the Government of Hong Kong responsible for urban planning and renewal, land administration, infrastructure development, building safety, landscape, greening & tree development, water supplies, ...

of the

Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...

currently manages the Office. HK FormerKowloonBritishSchool

HK TST Nathan Road 136 Antiquities n M Office

Relationship with other government agencies

The AMO is the executive arm of the Antiquities Authority,Legislative Council Brief, 22 June 2011. p.1
/ref> a portfolio of the

Secretary for Development The Secretary for Development of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for planning, land development and public works related development policy in Hong Kong. The position was created in 2007 to replace portions of the previous portfolios ...

. The AMO also offers secretarial and executive assistance to the

Antiquities Advisory Board The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) is a statutory body of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with the responsibility of advising the Antiquities Authority on any matters relating to antiquities and monuments. The AAB was establish ...

(AAB) and executes the advice made by the AAB, including the execution of the

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

's decision to declare

monuments A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

. The Government's problematic and confusing framework was exposed by the battle to preserve

Queen's Pier Queen's Pier, named after Queen Victoria, was a public pier in front of City Hall in Edinburgh Place, Central, Hong Kong. For three generations it served not only as a public pier in day-to-day use but also as a major ceremonial arrival and d ...

.Una So
Court ruling clears way for Queen's Pier dismantling
, '' The Standard'', August 11, 2007 The director of

Hong Kong University The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fir ...

's architectural conservation program, said that the government needed to clarify relations and responsibilities between the board, the office and the Antiquities Authority. The AMO was formerly subordinate to the

Leisure and Cultural Services Department The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), is a department in the Government of Hong Kong. It reports to the Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau, headed by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism. It provides leisure and cultural ...

(LCSD). To achieve synergy in implementing policy directives on heritage conservation and streamline day-to-day operation, since 1 April 2019 it is placed under the Commissioner for Heritage's Office of the

instead.

Responsibilities

One of the duties of the Office is to foster public awareness of Hong Kong's heritage through education, publicity programmes and the setting up of

heritage trails Heritage trails are walking trails and driving routes in urban and rural settings that are identified by signage and guidebooks as relating to cultural heritage. The heritage might be built architecture, or it can be a cultural heritage narrative ...

and exhibition centres. The

Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre The Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre is located in the Kowloon Park, Haiphong Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The Centre occupies the historic Blocks S61 and S62 of the former Whitfield Barracks at the Kowloon Park. History ...

and the

Ping Shan Tang Clan Gallery cum Heritage Trail Visitors Centre Ping Shan Heritage Trail is a heritage trail located in the Ping Shan area of Yuen Long District, in Hong Kong. The trail was inaugurated on 12 December 1993 and was the first of its kind in Hong Kong. It passes through the villages ...

are under the management of the Office. The

adaptive reuse Adaptive reuse refers to the process of reusing an existing building for a purpose other than which it was originally built or designed for. It is also known as recycling and conversion. Adaptive reuse is an effective strategy for optimizing the o ...

of some historic buildings are organized by the Office, which also provides subvention to the

Hong Kong Archaeological Society The Hong Kong Archaeological Society () is a government-funded organization dedicated to carrying out excavations and preserving archaeological heritage in Hong Kong. The society is affiliated with the Hong Kong Museum of History to establish arti ...

for excavations and surveys of unexplored heritages.

References

Heritage conservation in Hong Kong Statutory bodies in Hong Kong Hong Kong government departments and agencies {{HK-gov-stub

Relationship with other government agencies

Responsibilities

See also

References