It was named after Henry Wase Whitfield, who was appointed commander of the British Army in Hong Kong in 1869.

[1] The Government was criticised when the Executive Council approved plans in 1982 for a strip of retail premises fronting Nathan Road to be carved into the hill of Kowloon Park.

The move was first proposed when the barracks were converted into public open space in 1970, and ignited some controversy.

[2] An extension block linking the two historical barracks was constructed in the 1980s to provide more space for the museum facilities.

It is a two-storied colonial military barrack building which is similar in type to Blocks S61 and S62.

Naval guns have been mounted in each emplacement after they were discovered at a construction site at Chatham Road in Tsim Sha Tsui in 1980.

[9] The remaining Blocks 58, S4, S61 and S62 of the former barracks were listed as Grade III historic buildings from 1997 to 2009.