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Ma On Shan Sports Centre and Ma On Shan Public Library, which was officially opened today (April 2), will offer more comprehensive leisure, sports and cultural facilities to residents in the Sha Tin District.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Ms Anissa Wong, said the department had made concerted efforts to provide a variety of leisure and cultural services to meet local demands.
Ms Wong pointed out that new facilities were provided in the district to accommodate the increasing demands of residents.
"To suit the interest of various users, different kinds of recreational activities, such as aerobic classes, children's dance classes and fitness training classes, will be held at the sports centre," She said.
"We will also have lots of library events to promote the library services and to foster reading habits."
Ma On Shan Public Library and Ma On Shan Sports Centre are situated at 14 On Chun Street, Ma On Shan, Sha Tin.
The oval-shape roof, with an indented section to let sunlight into the sports arena, is the unique design of the centre.
Occupying an area of 6,390 square metres, its multi-purpose arena has a spectator stand of 1,500 seats which is ideal for holding large-scale sports events and competitions.
The arena can also be converted as two basketball courts, two volleyball courts, eight badminton courts or one handball court.
Other facilities include three multi-purpose activity rooms, a temporary gymnastic training centre, a table-tennis room, a dance room, a fitness room, as well as a children's playroom with the specially-designed theme of "Mine Caves".
Also, the sports centre has a sports pro-shop.
Ma On Shan Sports Centre opens from 7am to 11pm daily.
Ma On Shan Public Library, a cylinder-shaped super structure, measures 2,200 square metres, has acquired an initial stock of over 150,000 items of English and Chinese books.
Apart from facilities such as an Adult Lending Library, Children's Library, Quick Reference Section, Newspapers and Periodicals Section, Extension Activities Room and Students' Study Room, the library has a Multimedia Library as well as a Computer and Information Centre.
Readers can also enjoy their reading at the Coffee Corner.
The book drop service is also available. The library is also equipped with the Online Public Access Catalogue terminals and the computer terminals to help readers search library catalogues and Multimedia Information System, to browse the internet and to read CD-ROMs.
Ma On Shan Public Library opens from 9am to 8pm from Tuesdays to Fridays. It opens from 9am to 7pm on Saturdays and from 9am to 5pm on Sundays and public holidays. It is closed on Mondays.
Ends/Saturday, April 2, 2005
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