Edinburgh Place Ferry Pier

Built in 1957 at the height of the Modern Movement, it was the third generation of the Star Ferry Pier in Central, and was located near the City Hall and the General Post Office.

[1] The pier was built in 1957 in Edinburgh Place, at the height of the Modern Movement, near the City Hall complex which was being planned at the time.

[5] There is a major bus terminus on the Kowloon side, which is conveniently situated close to the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier.

[1] From 1972 to 2006, the ferry was still used by many as the shortest route from Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) to Central District, and a daily average of 74,000 passenger trips were made across the harbour in 2004.

[8] In 2001, an impact assessment for the Central Reclamation recommended the relocation of the Star Ferry Pier, and this was approved by the Antiquities Advisory Board in 2002.

[1][4] 3D Laser Scanning Technology in digital recording of structures was applied to capture three-dimensional images of the pier before the demolition.

The government ignored a nonbinding motion in September in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong urging it to retain the pier and clock tower.

[13] The pier became the centre of a bitter struggle between the Government and conservationists, who opposed either further destruction of the harbour or the further loss of historical buildings.

Consultants who prepared the Environmental Impact Assessment report in 2001 for the Central reclamation noted the pier's significant role in Hong Kong's transport history.

It is an eye-catching icon within the beautiful Hong Kong Harbour particularly for tourists and locals crossing it via Star Ferries from Tsim Sha Tsui.

[16] On the Tsim Sha Tsui side of the harbour, the proposed relocation of the bus terminus which acts as a feeder for the ferry is forecast to further reduce passenger numbers by one-fifth.

In the weeks running up to the cessation of service from the pier, thousands of Hong Kong residents arrived to post banners and other messages in support of retention.

So Sau Chung, veteran campaigner (now a monk), whose hunger strike against Star Ferry fare increases triggered the riots in 1966, came by to lend his support.

Activists, including "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, rushed into and occupied part of the demolition site, chanting slogans from the roof of an excavator and demanded to meet Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Michael Suen Ming-yeung.

[24] In addition to the public, Civic Party legislators, and Choy So-yuk, a councillor from the pro-government Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, showed up to lend support.