IC to to retain the original structures of Iec Long

The Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) recently reiterated that it will restore the former firecracker plant of Iec Long (Iec Long) in an authentic fashion, so as to preserve the structure’s original features.

The IC officially acquired the site in December 2020.

In order to do so, the IC promised to retain the original structures, plan and ecology of the site during its rejuvenation project. The IC expects to open part of the site for public use this year.

An area will be designated for sightseeing, the IC revealed, where circumnavigation walkways will be installed. The interior will be transformed into meeting and exhibition venues, a tourism information center and souvenir shop, as well as a café.

Meanwhile, an entity has been commissioned to conduct studies on the site’s natural environment. The result will be used as the foundation for the long-term refurbishment of the site, which will eventually be converted into a leisure site that presents the firecracker manufacturing history of the city.

Lying vacant for the last two decades or so, the Iec Long site has not been formally used for any purpose after it ceased operations, except for some occasional use as a war game venue in the first decade of the Special Administrative Region.

The site measures 20,000 sqm in area and has become part of the national land reserves after acquisition by the government. It is the largest and most representative remaining past firecracker manufacturing site in the city.

The first phase of work, which included site clearing and flattening, has been concluded. AL