The Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) is a

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

government organization 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 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 areas of archaeological significance. The Commissioner for Heritage's Office under the Development Bureau of the

Hong Kong government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...

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 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 Secretary for Development, Antiquities Authority on any matters relating to antiquities and monum ...

(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 chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

'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, historical ...

. The Government's problematic and confusing framework was exposed by the battle to preserve Queen's Pier.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) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

'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 (LCSD). To achieve synergy in implementing policy directives on heritage conservation and streamline day-to-day operations, since 1 April 2019 it has been placed under the Commissioner for Heritage's Office of the Development Bureau 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 and exhibition centres. The Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre and the Ping Shan Tang Clan Gallery cum Heritage Trail Visitors Centre are under the management of the Office. The

adaptive reuse Adaptive reuse is the reuse of an existing building for a purpose other than that for which it was originally built or designed. It is also known as recycling and conversion. The adaptive reuse of buildings can be a viable alternative to new con ...

of some historic buildings is organized by the Office, which also provides subvention to the Hong Kong Archaeological Society 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