皇都戲院何去何從?What Next for Historical State Theatre?

皇都戲院以前是香港北角的一家電影院。 過去15年間,民間曾發起多次保育行動,終於在2017年,成功爭取為一級歷史建築評級。

皇都戲院以前是香港北角的一家電影院。 2015年有人擔心它可能會在不久的將來被拆除。過去15年間,民間曾發起多次保育行動,終於在2017年3月,成功為皇都戲院爭取一級歷史建築評級,具有「拱橋式」支架設計的獨特屋頂結構。

2019年10月,擁有該建築群95%的新世界發展公司申請購買該大廈,併計劃對其進行部分重建。新世界指「重建過程中會積極考量如何把前皇都戲院精髓予以保存」,但有關方案一直未有公布。

皇都戲院擁有1400個座位,前身名為璇宮戲院(Empire Theatre),1952年落成。它於1957年關閉,並在進行大規模翻修後於1959年重新營運,改名皇都戲院,後來於1997年關閉。

The State Theatre is a former cinema in in the North Point, Hong Kong. Concerns were raised in 2015 that it may be demolished in the near future. The building was listed as a Grade I historic building in March 2017 with a with a distinctive parabolic roof trusses.

In October 2019, New World Development, which owns 95 percent of the complex, applied to buy the building with plans to redevelop portions of it. They will “actively consider how to preserve the essence of the former State Theatre.” But the relevant plan has not been announced.

The cinema opened in December 1952 as the Empire Theatre, with 1,400 seats. It closed in 1957, and reopened in 1959 as the State Theatre, following extensive renovations. The State Theatre closed in 1997.

楊必興 P H Yang