Heritage houses demolished by mistake
Print Edition
THE city’s Qingpu District government ordered that demolition work be stopped in a riverside heritage area after a number of character houses were mistakenly knocked down.
Housing authorities have asked the contractor to store all the beams, tiles and other materials surviving the demolition work so that they can be reused when the government restores the century-old houses in Qingpu’s ancient Liantang Town under the guidance of historians and architects.
“We have invited some professionals to work out plans to restore these buildings,” said Zhou Min, a district government official. “We’ll hold a meeting this Saturday for the experts to discuss the best way to undertake the restoration work.”
The destruction of the houses in the town , which has a history that can be traced back a thousand years, began at the end of last year.
“Since some of the houses here were considered dangerous and in disrepair, the housing administration authority began to demolish them. But the work was soon suspended because the government decided it was improper to demolish them,” said Xu, a vice manager of the town’s tourism and development company.
However, the demolition work resumed after the Spring Festival and continued through the end of last month.
“We have old structures in different styles here, so it’s a great pity that we have lost some of them. Now we are working on ways to repair the existing ones and restore the demolished ones,” said Xu, who declined to give her full name, adding that expert advice was being sought. “We hope these houses can be restored as soon as possible.”
Shanghai Daily went to Liantang yesterday and examined several demolished houses. The construction site on Dongfeng Street had been cordoned off and no workers could be seen. Tiles and other materials were piled up around the area.
In the past, the town consisted of two parts — Shang Tang and Xia Tang, literately the upper and lower areas of the community. “There used to be some restaurants and pastry shops in Shang Tang and craft stores in Xia Tang. There are many complexes that were built here during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911),” said a resident in his 70s surnamed Zhang.
He said he had lived there since he was born and mourned the loss of the old houses.
Zhang said many local residents were against the houses being demolished and think the authorities should have organized a meeting for residents to voice their opinions before the work began.
“The houses didn’t look like they were dangerous and in need of urgent repair. Even if they were, we believe that they could have been repaired instead of being demolished,” said Yu, a friend of Zhang who owns a local thrift store.
According to Cao Yongkang, a research center director at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, heritage buildings cannot legally be demolished unless special permission is obtained, except under special circumstances.
“These houses were located in the core area of this noted historic and cultural town, considered to be a very important heritage area.” Cao said he had been invited by the district government to attend the meeting being held on Saturday. “I’ll call for the setting up of a system that can prevent such demolition work from happening and do my best to help with the restoration of these demolished houses.”
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