"If it had managed to hang on for another decade it would have possibly been celebrated as an historic structure, " he said.

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Some of that is deferred maintenance, but the bulk derives from the cruel Catch-22 of occupying a historic structure: The Corcoran has been "grandfathered, " or exempted, from various ordinances and codes over the years.

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Opened in March, this former marine police station turned petite hotel is a rare example of Hong Kong preserving and repurposing a historic structure rather than razing it to build as big and as modern as possible.

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However, it said that due to the historic nature of the structure all design proposals would need to be agreed with consultees.

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The gallery will use its newest structure to create historic major exhibitions that rival those of major museums.

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The ornate hotel is filled with European antiques and elegant suites (some with four poster beds and claw-foot tubs), plus modern amenities such as large flat screen televisions and complimentary high-speed wi-fi throughout the historic five-storey brick structure.

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From above, it looks like a manta ray rising from the earth and was built to preserve the viewshed from the west, where the structure stands in front of the Camino Real historic trail.

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"The landscape cried out for an 18th-century structure, " says Ms. Winter, who runs a nonprofit historic preservation group.

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The focus of the workshop goes beyond the traditional role of the museum and includes the concept of the entire historic city as a living museum, getting away from the definition of a museum as a physical structure with four walls and a door and includes the cultural spaces, traditional skills, community and other tangible and intangible cultural heritage.

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