Princess Theatre / 樂聲戲院 [1975-2004]

Submitted by OldTimer on Mon, 02/06/2017 - 09:41
Current condition
Demolished / No longer exists
Date completed
Date closed / demolished

Seating capacity: 979.   Address: 164 Un Chau Street, Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, Hong Kong, northwest corner of Un Chau Street-Camp Street intersection.  Heritage Baptist Church is the current occupant at the site as shown in 2011 Google photos.

Princess Theatre operated during the period July 18, 1975 - February 2, 2004.

Sources:

Tags

Photos that show this Place

2017
????

Comments

Greetings, and thank philk for your sharp eyes and mind.  I looked into this and at first, they can't be duplicate.  They were born a few weeks apart, at different locations  and one is more talkative than the other.

Cinema Treasures lists its street number as 162 which went into the January 16 page; while Hong Kong Theatres Association Ltd's 164 went into the February 6 page, where I added the name of the current church at the site as per tngan's feedback . I have removed the January 16 page by over-writing it with another theatre.   Regards,  Peter

Hi Peter

No problem, the cinema (and the residential block it is part of) occupies from 162 - 188 Un Chau St, hence the confusion. I was passing by earlier today and took the opportunity to take some snaps. As you can see the cinema buildings of both the Prince and Princess theatres were part of the same residential block (each one built on diagonally opposite sides of the block) and built in exactly the same style.

Heritage Baptist Church.jpg
Heritage Baptist Church.jpg, by Philk

 

Former Prince Theatre.jpg
Former Prince Theatre.jpg, by Philk

Regards

Phil

Thanks philk, photos make reading these pages more interesting.

Around the block on Castle Peak Road was 紅葉飯店  when I was attending Tak Ching Primary in 1952.   Book bags were made of wicker and classes full day.  They taught you how to make carbonated soda and weave wicker basket.  On school exam days, instead of going home for lunch, I bought take-out BBQ pork with rice for 80 cents.  When I had my very first pocket money in coins, I held them in my closed fist and the fist stayed inside the pocket while walking.  One could not trust the sewing in those days with my first ever money. Regards, Peter 

Hi Peter

Great to hear your memories. I have some sad news about Tak Ching though. It seems that the school has now officially closed as of 2016. I hadn't realised until just a few weeks ago when I walked past (my son attends school nearby) and noticed construction workers were installing iron girders around the perimeter in readiness for demolition. It seems such a shame after so many years in operation (since 1923), but after doing a bit of research it seems it was planned and they took in their final group of Grade 1 students in 2010.

Regards

Phil 

P.S are you the Peter who also lived in Taipo?

Hi philk, I lived on Ki Lung Street few shops south of Boundary St.

In my time (1952-54) there, the primary section was on the opposite (north) side of the street, and the current building was the secondary (girls only) section. The primary building was later displaced by a new building to house the secondary section and the primary section moved across the street to the current site.  Us boys played in both buildings during lunch time.  After six decades, in my 2014 visit, I sat for the last time on a student chair I believe from the same old era.  

Here is another interesting thing, as shown in HKTA's photo:http://hktaorg.com/en/hist_inner.php?id=17

On the facade corner (see its enlarged version) it appears to read 華聲戲院.

樂聲戲院(營盤街)現為教會 (source: Wikipedia, - as appeared on this page)
華聲戲院(東沙島街)現為桌球會 (source: Wikipedia)

Was it possible that 華聲戲院 moved in and operated for a short period?

Regards, Peter

Hi Peter

RE: school - when you say north side, do you mean where the Ying Wah girls school is currently situated on the corner block ending at Yen Chow St?

With regards to the picture on the other site, I can barely make it out but I think the street sign says "Castle Peak Road" which means it is indeed a photo of the Prince (華聲戲院) and not the Princess (樂聲戲院).

Regards

Phil

So strange that the street sign in the photo linked here seem to have disappeared in the ones posted above.  Normally street signs are always on the same spots. 

Be that as it may, this photo is definitely Shum Shui Po.  The billboard on the fence by the roadside has the name 符樹雲, he used to be the district councillor in the Li Cheng Uk constituency.  See:

https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%8E%E9%84%AD%E5%B1%8B_(%E9%81%B8%E5%8D%80)

breskvar

philk, thanks for the clarification on the photo.

The original Tak Ching primary was on the west side of Yen Chow Street having an entrance from Un Chau St  (which I remember well) and the other from Castle Peak Rd.  Also at that time, the girls only high school section was on the south side the current elementary section.  My father taught in the high school section so sitting inside its classroom in 2014 has a very personal meaning.

About 20 years ago I saw internet photos of a new building on the original primary site with the sign Tak Ching Girls Secondary School on its facade.  So, the secondary and primary sections have exchanged locations after I left HK.

Googles 2009 street photo shows Diocesan Girls School was the occupant, and now you have updated to its current status - Ying Wah Girls School.  Like cinemas in Hong Kong, some schools come and go too.

The original primary building had a covered straight metal staircase rising from the playground to the top level of the building. One could still get wet during rain storm.  I believe they built it for safety reason.  Regards, Peter