Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter is a typhoon shelter located in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, between the Hong Kong Island entrance of Cross-Harbour Tunnel on Kellett Island and Island Eastern Corridor. It was the first typhoon shelter in Hong Kong. It is roughly 17 hectares in area.
History The original typhoon shelter was built after the 1874 typhoon, at the present location of Victoria Park, to provide shelter for fishing boats during storms. It was completed in 1883 with a breakwater only 427 metres (1,400 feet) long. The cost was HK$96,500.
In December 1903, a legislative council member, Gershom Stewart, suggested that the typhoon shelter be expanded. The motion was passed but expansion works could not be carried out due to lack of capital. The Legislative Council and the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce questioned the Hong Kong Government on the expansion in 1904 and 1906, but the Government did not give any response.Chinese Mail, 2 November 1906
On 18 September 1906, a typhoon struck Hong Kong, destroying 3,653 boats and killing 15,000 people, most of them fishermen. In March 1908, the Government finally carried out expansion works on the typhoon shelter, deepening it by 3 metres (9 feet) and expanded it to 30 hectares (75 acres).
In 1953, the typhoon shelter was moved northwards to its present site and the original typhoon shelter was reclaimed to provide land for Victoria Park. The new typhoon shelter had a size of 26 hectares (65 acres). However, reclamation projects which started in the typhoon shelter during the late 1960s to construct the Cross-Harbour Tunnel decreased the size of the typhoon shelter.
Much of the shelter was temporarily reclaimed as a working area for construction of the Central–Wan Chai Bypass (the working for Route 4 Reengineering), an underground road, underworks that were part of the Wan Chai Phase II project of the Central and Wan Chai Reclamation, begun in 2009.Wan Chai Development Phase II - Project Overview, CEDDCentral and Wan Chai Reclamation - Wan Chai Development Phase II , CEDD
In 2022, the section of harbourfront alongside the shelter, roughly aligning with Victoria Park, was redeveloped and expanded, as part of the overall development of Victoria Harbour waterfront.Revitalised Typhoon Shelter to open on eve of Mid-Autumn Festival, The Standard, 4 Sep 2022Revitalised Typhoon Shelter Precinct to officially open on eve of Mid-Autumn Festival .., HK Government Information Services Department, 2 Sept 2022The Revitalised Typhoon Shelter Precinct, Causeway Bay , Harbourfront Commission, 7 Sept 2022
Environmental concerns A 2005 government report singled out the Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter as having "exceptionally high levels" of tributyltin, exceeding 1000 times the baseline concentration measured in the East Lamma Channel. Surrounding roads To the west: Cross-Harbour Tunnel
To the south: Gloucester Road Victoria Park Road
To the east: Island Eastern Corridor
Notable places nearby Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club Noonday Gun Central–Wan Chai Bypass The Excelsior Victoria Park Shelter Street, south of Victoria Park reminds of the original typhoon shelter
See also List of typhoon shelters in Hong Kong
References