Exploring a lost world

The historic State Theatre building was put up for compulsory auction earlier, and majority stakeholder New World Development secured its full ownership for HK$4.7 billion.

After the "unification" of the title, the developer may finally kick off conservation plans that have been on the drawing board for years.

The State Theatre's most special architectural feature is its "flying buttress" parabolic exoskeleton truss on the rooftop.

Having intended to conserve the building since 2015, New World now expects to complete the project by 2025.

The group has invited drama celebrity Fredric Mao Chun-fai to provide an opinion on this project, which has been in gestation for more than a decade.

I went on a tour of the building earlier with "Mao Sir" and discovered that, apart from the distinctive rooftop arches, there are numerous fascinating features inside.

The State Theatre used to be a 1,000-seat cinema and performing venue. When consumer preferences changed, rendering big cinemas unviable, the property owner leased the premises to the Denon Club to operate as a snooker hall.

To be cost-effective, the club built new flooring that covered the old seating area like a box, on which it ran the snooker operation until early this year.

The old cinema seats are therefore still there, but many hidden doors and staircases were added, making strolling through the building like exploring the mysterious remnants of a historic palace.

When we followed the back staircase to the roof and saw the sunlit arches, it felt like finding the way back to humanity from a forgotten world.

During the tour, we had to light the path with our mobile phones, which created the atmosphere of exploring the relics of a lost civilization, like the adventures portrayed in Louis Cha novels.

Denon Club started to operate after the handover, so it has a history of more than 20 years. Its pursuit of a quality and cost-efficient operating philosophy is clearly demonstrated in the way it had converted the theater into a snooker hall, which is admirable.

I was told the snooker hall will form part of the conservation and be preserved as an interesting side story to State Theatre's colorful history.

Siu Sai-wo is publisher of Sing Tao Daily