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Lunar New Year marks the start of something new, and in the case of an almost 20-year-old footbridge that carried countless people across two Central landmarks on a daily basis, the Year of the Fire Horse meant making way for a new development.
On February 19, the pedestrian footbridge linking the International Financial Centre (IFC) with the Central Ferry Pier was officially decommissioned and closed to the public; the structure is now in the pipeline to be dismantled to accommodate a larger Henderson Land redevelopment of the site, which will be home to the Central Yards project.
It’s a bittersweet moment for a lot of Hongkongers who relied on the footbridge for their daily commute – the pathway first opened in June 2007 following the relocation of the Star Ferry Pier, making it a long-standing feature of the neighbourhood. It also served as a popular location for tourists who wanted to take photos of the Hong Kong Observation Wheel and Victoria Harbour while the view had still been unobstructed.
Henderson Land has erected a temporary enclosed walkway which opened to the public on the same day to minimise disruptions for commuters, though this one comes with 24-hour air-conditioning – that should come in handy during the summer months. Similar to the old footbridge, the new walkway comes with large windows for views of Victoria Harbour and the Hong Kong Observation Wheel, as well as informational graphics.
Central Yards, the major development that the original footbridge is being demolished to make way for, is a mixed-use commercial-retail-leisure ‘groundscraper’ presented by Henderson Land that’s designed to lead the reinvention of the Central Harbourfront area. It’s anticipated that the new temporary walkway will be removed once the first phase of Central Yards has been completed – the expected opening date is sometime in 2027. Once Central Yards is fully open, the landmark will reach from Connaught Road all the way to Central Harbourfront, boasting over 1.6 million square feet of gross floor area.
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