1970s construction of gascoigne flyover

Mon, 06/05/2023 - 11:15

Picture of the Gascoigne-Nathan junction with Gascoigne flyover under construction in the early 1970s. Flyover was opened in 1977.

Date picture taken
1970s

Comments

The gascoigne flyover construction started around oct 1973.  A company for the construction was chosen on 1973-9-23. Traffic restrictions were applied there starting 10-6-1973. That means the picture was taken after oct 1973. But the Fortuna court hotel was supposed opened on 3-26-1971. In the picture, it seems that the hotel was not yet built. The buildings there look exactly the same as the 1967 picture in  https://gwulo.com/media/22359.

1973-9-23 gascoigne flyover builder decided
1973-9-23 gascoigne flyover builder decided, by simtang

 

1971-3-26  Fortuna Court Hotel opens
1971-3-26 Fortuna Court Hotel opens, by simtang

 

 

The previous hotel was the Broadway. I think the former hotel after refurbishment became the Fortuna Court Hotel. Photos and maps of the general area do not show a new building being built on the site. 

 

In the aerial photo, a clear view of the Fortuna Court Hotel is blocked by buildings on Pak Hoi Street.

A view of the junction of Mau Lam Street and Nathan Road can be seen in Image 44 of: https://www.grs.gov.hk/ws/erp/nr/nr-en.html . I think the Hotel is at the far end of the street which seems to match the image depicted in the sketch drawing in the newspaper article showing the vertical slant in the upper storeys of the building.

Photos of the Kowloon Cricket Club should also be able to show Chi Wo Street and the Hotel when looking in a north-westerly direction.

 

 

 

A blurred picture of Fortuna court hotel.

A news report on 1964-4-22 about a parade at the Gascoigne rd - Jordan road junction on 4-21 to celebrate the queen's birthday. 4-21 is the real birthday of the queen but many places celebrated on a different day due to various reasons.

1964-4-21 queens birthday celebration
1964-4-21 queens birthday celebration, by simtang

A picture of the Gascoigne-Jordan junction that day when the crowd was  dispersing after a parade starting at 10am.

1964-4-21 gascoigne jordan junction
1964-4-21 gascoigne jordan junction, by simtang

One can see the building labelled B with "hotel" sign behind the Diocesan girls school. It has to be the Broadway/Fortuna court hotel. The lower picture shows the same junction dated between 1977 and 2009. 1977 was date when the flyover opened. 2009 was the date Diocesan girls school was rebuilt.  Unfortunately the hotel was hidden again from that angle if it still existed then. (Google map shows that in 2009 it was already replaced by the San Diego hotel)

By the way, the original Broadway hotel was quite tall with more than 10 stories in 1964. In 1971 it was probably rebuilt as Fortuna court hotel with less than 10 stories if the depiction in their 1971 advertisement was accurate :)

https://gwulo.com/media/45384

We can compare the view of Broadway hotel in 1958  and hotel stage in 2023 from Methodist college. In 1958, part A was a little bit shorter than part B and probably didn't belong to the hotel. In 2023, there are also shorter part A and taller part B and they both belong to the hotel.

view from methodist college 1958 compared with 2023
view from methodist college 1958 compared with 2023, by simtang

We can also compare air view of Broadway hotel in 1970s and hotel stage in 2023. Again in 1970s, part A probably not belong to the hotel and B was the Broadway hotel.

broadway hotel 1970s compared with 2023
broadway hotel 1970s compared with 2023 , by simtang

According to the map in 1960, that should be the location of the Broadway hotel.

https://gwulo.com/media/45376/zoom

The neighboring building of the hotel on Pak Hoi st is called Chung Pak mansion built in 1964.

https://www.midland.com.hk/en/transaction/Kowloon-Jordan-Chung-Pak-Mans…

How it looks like in 2023

chung pak mansion on Pak Hoi st in 2023
chung pak mansion on Pak Hoi st in 2023, by simtang

I have moved my comments which I had made with reference to the newspaper article of the Queen's Birthday Parade which may have been missed. 

In the newspaper photo, I think the building at centre with the horizontal concrete bands and vertical slant would be the Broadway Hotel and may be the future Fortuna Court Hotel at the junction of Mau Lam and Chi Wo Streets. Another photo of Mau Lam Street from 1963 can be seen at bottom right at:

https://flickr.com/photos/76716456@N06/9468059174/in/photolist-fqEh8y-9…

By the way, the Hotel Fortuna was located at the junction of Pak Hoi Street and Nathan Road. Similar sounding name but different location. A photo of Hotel Fortuna can be seen below with the hotel's name. (Labelled incorrectly in the newspaper article with photo as the Fortuna Court Hotel) .

In 1971 when the Fortuna Court Hotel across the road at Mau Lam and Chi Wo Streets became operational, it served as an annex to the main hotel (Hotel Fortuna) on Nathan Road. 

 

fortuna hotel
fortuna hotel, by Admin

@moddsey:

I think you are right. This picture of Kings park in 1963 can provide a convincing proof.  Building A was bounded by Pak Hoi st (brown line) and Mau Lam st (blue line). It was also at the Pak Hoi st-gascoigne rd (red line) junction.

We have A=broadway hotel

                B=fortuna hotel under construction

               C=astor theatre

              D=alhambra building

             E=methodist college

By the way, the building sandwiched between astor theatre and broadway hotel and attached to the back of the theatre is called Shannon house (www.hkmaps.hk) built in the late 1950s or 1960s.

The mystery is solved.

1963 kings park
1963 kings park, by simtang