Macpherson Stadium, Hong Kong

Indoor stadium in Hong Kong

Facade of Macpherson Stadium in 2021

Traditional Chinese

麥花臣室內體育館

Simplified Chinese

麦花臣室内体育馆

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Màihuāchén Shìnèi Tǐyùguǎn
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	mak6 faa1 san4 sat1 noi6 tai2 juk6 gun2

MacPherson Stadium (Chinese: 麥花臣室內體育館) was an indoor stadium that played an important role to the development of youth recreation in Hong Kong. Located at Yim Po Fong Street, on the edge of Mong Kok, a high population density area, it had a capacity of 1,850.^[1]

The stadium was within Queen Elizabeth II Youth Centre (伊利沙伯女皇二世青年遊樂場館). It was adjacent to the Macpherson Playground (麥花臣遊樂場) which has a football pitch and acts as a gathering place for youth. The stadium was managed by the Hong Kong Playground Association.

It hosted the official 1983 Asian Basketball Championship.

Name

On 4 May 1929, the Hong Kong Government founded the Playing Fields Committee to provide social welfare services to local children, J. L. McPherson being among the founding members. On 4 May 1933, when the Children's Playgrounds Association became a reality, McPherson was named Honorary Secretary.^[2] John Livingstone McPherson (1874-1947) had been a missionary assigned to Hong Kong from Canada, working for the YMCA of Hong Kong from 1905 to 1935.^[3]^[4] At his retirement, appreciation was shown for the work he had done in Hong Kong, among which was the founding of the Children's Playground.^[5] Macpherson left for Canada in 1935, but lived out the remainder of his life in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England and died there in 1947.

History

The stadium was opened by the Governor Sir Alexander Grantham on 7 September 1953, while the foundation stone was laid by the Duchess of Kent.^[1] It held its last basketball tournament in October 2008 and was demolished for a residential complex and a new indoor stadium.^[1]

Redevelopment

The site was redeveloped into MacPherson Place, a complex comprising the new MacPherson Stadium (麥花臣場館), a youth centre, and two residential towers (1A and 1B), collectively named MacPherson Residence (麥花臣匯). Developed by Kowloon Development and the Hong Kong Playground Association, it comprises 293 apartments.^[6] The address of MacPherson Place is 38 Nelson Street. The foundation stone of its predecessor, Queen Elizabeth II Youth Centre, has been preserved within.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Chan, Kin-wa (12 October 2008). "Stars from Hong Kong's sporting world bid fond farewell to MacPherson Stadium". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
^ Kwok, Siu-tong. Commemorative Publication celebrating the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Playground Association. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Playground Association, 2003
^ "J. L. McPherson, Hong Kong YMCA: General Secretary 1905-1935". Sue (Fulham) McPherson 2006. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
^ McPherson, Sue (Fulham) (2006). "J.L. McPherson: Hong Kong YMCA General Secretary, 1905-1935" (PDF). Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch. 46: 39–58. ISSN 1991-7295.
^ Monument to Mr. J. L. McPherson, Children's Recreation, 1925. South China Morning Post, 12 March 1935
^ Leung, Paggie (10 April 2013). "Hong Kong home sellers begin to drop prices to lure buyers in depressed market". South China Morning Post. Hong Kong. Retrieved 12 November 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Macpherson Stadium, Hong Kong.

Website of the new Macpherson Stadium
Website of MacPherson Residence
Chan, Pan-hang, Marco (1997). Redevelopment of Macpherson Playground and Queen Elizabeth II Youth Centre (PDF) (Thesis). Department of Architecture, University of Hong Kong. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-22.{{cite thesis}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

22°19′05″N 114°10′20″E / 22.3180°N 114.1721°E / 22.3180; 114.1721

Hong Kong indoor sports centres

Hong Kong Island