Yong: Restore original design and structure of KK Community Centre

Borneo Post

5 days ago

Yong chatting with DBKK officers on duty at the Kota Kinabalu Community Centre.
KOTA KINABALU (July 31): The Kota Kinabalu Community Centre, which was partially burnt recently, should be restored to its original design and structure with upgrading only to its toilets and cafe facilities in order to preserve its heritage status and culturally historic value, said former chief minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee.
As is well known locally, the community centre has been the site of many momentous and historic events from the colonial era to today.
The community centre was gazetted as a cultural heritage conservation site under the Sabah Cultural Heritage Conservation Enactment 1997. It remains protected as a heritage site, he said in a statement today.
'During my visit to the site today, I found that much of the original concrete walls at the main hall are not materially affected by the fire which occurred mainly on the east site of the hall. The roof, on the other hand, needs a complete reconstruction,' he said.
Whatever the plans are for the site, he said there should be no demolition.
'Do not demolish and rebuild from the ground upwards because that would eliminate all memories of the historic events that occurred there and remove all traces of the historic building.'
Yong recalled that in the 1980s, there were attempts to demolish the community hall and build a new commercial complex on the site. However, upon gazetting of the community centre as a cultural heritage conservation site in 1997, the hall has become a protected site, including protection from commercial interests.
He called on the Kota Kinabalu City Hall (DBKK) and the Sabah Cultural Heritage Council to recognise the heritage value of the site, of which there are very few in Kota Kinabalu.
'We should resist the temptation to build another so-called modern convention centre to replicate a convention centre or commercial building that is devoid of cultural heritage. Cultural heritage cannot be replicated. Heritage is something that has withstood the test of time and has entered the collective psyche and memory of the local people,' he added.
DBKK has announced the immediate closure of the Kota Kinabalu Community Centre following a fire incident in the early hours of Monday that caused extensive structural and property damage.
The fire, which broke out around 1am, prompted DBKK to suspend all public use and bookings at the facility until further notice, as it begins a comprehensive damage assessment and restoration planning.