Today, Tai Kwun - Centre for Heritage and Arts, the revitalised Central Police Station, recorded over one million visitors since opening to the public on 29 May 2018. 

Celebrating with visitors at Tai Kwun to mark this milestone, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said, “Tai Kwun has been open to the public for just a few months, and it is inspiring that Hong Kong people have really taken Tai Kwun into their hearts. We would like to thank all of our visitors for their warm and enthusiastic response to Tai Kwun and its diverse range of public programmes. Tai Kwun has proven to be a shining example of heritage conservation in Hong Kong. I am delighted that the Club’s hard work and efforts have paid off.”

“We wanted to create an interesting public space in the center of Hong Kong, and it is good to see that this important heritage site has now been revitalised and transformed into a vibrant cultural hub to offer the best heritage and arts experiences to Hong Kong, and to cultivate knowledge and appreciation of contemporary art, performing arts and history in our community. In so doing we aim to create a model of best practice in heritage conservation, a place of inspiration, stimulation and enjoyment for Hong Kong. This is in line with The Club’s strategy of promoting arts, culture and heritage to improve the quality of life of Hong Kong people,” Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said.

Since its opening, four large-scale, free heritage and arts exhibitions have been held. More than 270,000 visitors were attracted to the “100 Faces of Tai Kwun”, the heritage exhibition of the opening season.  The art galleries, where the inaugural arts exhibitions were shown, recorded some 150,000 visitors. In addition, approximately 350 free docent tours and 140 performances, workshops and seminars were held and most of these were free. Meanwhile, the 2018 Tai Kwun Autumn Season opened in September, with an emphasis on dance performances, on top of providing a broad range of heritage and visual art programmes.

Tai Kwun was named by TIME Magazine in August as one of World’s 100 Greatest Places 2018, which span six continents and 48 countries and territories. Tai Kwun was also named “New Culture Destinations of the Year – Asia Pacific” at the Leading Culture Destinations Awards 2018 held in London on 28 September.

Feedback collected by Tai Kwun from thousands of visitors between 29 May and August showed that most visitors strongly agreed that Tai Kwun had quickly established itself as a centre for heritage and arts for all to enjoy, and that visitors would recommend Tai Kwun to their friends. As a new destination, over one-fifth of these respondents were repeat visitors. Nearly 80% of the respondents indicated that they had stayed for two to three hours during their visits while 10% of them spent four to five hours. Heritage storytelling spaces, docent tours and exhibitions were the most popular attractions.

By early October, 15 shops and 10 food and beverage outlets had opened, providing a variety of services at a broad price range to visitors and generating income for Tai Kwun to support its site operations, and contributing significantly to the leisure component of Tai Kwun’s offerings.

With the “Tai Kwun Pass” system, Tai Kwun has been able to open the site to the public for free enjoyment, while diligently managing visitor numbers to provide a comfortable experience for all visitors and minimising the potential impact on the heritage site and neighbourhood. Since mid-June, walk-in visitors have been welcome while all visitors have been encouraged to reserve the free Tai Kwun pass online or use their mobile app for guaranteed access. Tai Kwun has been able to admit every visitor wishing to enter the site, with or without a pass, for the last three months.

About Tai Kwun – Centre for Heritage and Arts

“Arts, culture and heritage” is one of The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s strategic areas of charitable contribution. The Central Police Station (CPS) Revitalisation Project is the largest heritage conservation and revitalisation project undertaken by the Club and has been carried out in partnership with the Government of the HKSAR.        
The CPS compound comprises three declared monuments (former Central Police Station, Central Magistracy and Victoria Prison), with a total of 16 heritage buildings and some outdoors spaces, on a 13,600 square-metre site in the heart of Central. An international-grade art gallery and an auditorium have been added to contribute to the adaptive reuse of the site.  
In addition to undertaking the CPS Revitalisation Project, the Club’s Charities Trust has set up The Jockey Club CPS Limited to manage and operate the site as Tai Kwun - Centre for Heritage and Arts.      
Tai Kwun is the local colloquial name used by police officers and the public alike to refer to the former police headquarters and the surrounding CPS compound. The name has been adopted by The Jockey Club CPS Limited as a reminder of the historical importance of the site.          

The Hong Kong Jockey Club

Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a world-class racing club that acts continuously for the betterment of our society. The Club has a unique integrated business model, comprising racing and racecourse entertainment, a membership club, responsible sports wagering and lottery, and charity and community contribution. Through this model, the Club generates economic and social value for the community and supports the Government in combatting illegal gambling. In 2017/18, the Club made a record return to the Government of HK$22.6 billion in duty and profits tax and contributed HK$1.2 billion to the Lotteries Fund. Approved charity donations were HK$4.2 billion. The Club is Hong Kong's largest single taxpayer and one of the city’s major employers. Its Charities Trust is also one of the world's top ten charity donors. The Club is always "riding high together for a better future" with the people of Hong Kong.