Arts icon up for bidding

The iconic Fringe Club could see a new operator in April as the government yesterday invited nonprofit organizations to submit proposals for running the Central arts space for three years.

Nonprofit operators, including current lessee Hong Kong Festival Fringe Ltd, may submit proposals to the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau to operate, manage, maintain and develop arts and culture using the premises on Lower Albert Road.

The bureau said it would identify the most suitable organization to operate the Fringe Club through assessing the proposal's engagement with the public, management capabilities, financial capacity and viability, and reflection of value.

"The selected applicant will operate, manage, maintain and develop the premises as a unique arts and culture icon to support the continued development of arts and culture, in particular programs by small and medium-sized arts groups and youth," the bureau said.

An applicant should provide its own strategy, positioning, content and synergistic integration of arts and culture under the premises.

It also required that an operator should not engage in any activity that endangered national security, and should assess any potential national security risks.

The operator will need an effective mechanism to ensure that any operations at the premises are strictly in compliance with the national security law and other relevant laws of Hong Kong.

The government can disqualify an applicant or terminate the service agreement immediately if the applicant or the operator commits any act that may pose a risk to national security, public interest, public morality, public order or public safety of Hong Kong.

Interested applicants must submit a proposal by mail or by hand to the bureau's office at Admiralty before 5.30pm on October 20.

A site visit and briefing session will be held to explain the requirements next Tuesday and on September 5.

The 131-year-old Old Dairy Farm Building, listed as grade 1 historic architecture by the Antiquities and Monuments Office in 2009, houses the Fringe Club in its South Block and the Foreign Correspondents' Club in the North Block.

It was feared the Fringe Club would close in August last year after a poster of farewell to the 40-year-old Central arts space went viral on social media.

It later turned out to be a farewell party for two key managers, Benny Chia Chun-heng and Catherine Lau Kam-ling, with the Fringe Club continued to be managed by the board.

Some web users at that time speculated that the lease of the Fringe Club and FCC would both expire on January 1 this year, and that the two organizations would not be granted a renewal.

The government extended Fringe Club's lease for one year in April.

The FCC secured a three-year lease extension until January 1, 2026, last November despite pro-Beijing lawmakers pressing the government to take back the site after the club invited pro-independence activist Andy Chan Ho-tin to deliver a speech at a lunch meeting in 2018.

stacy.shi@singtaonewscorp.com