Hong Kong Observation Wheel could be closed when new operator takes over

The Hong Kong Observation Wheel is a 60-meter ( 197 feet) tall ferris wheel at the Central Harbourfront. Since its grand opening in December 2014, Hongkongers  and tourists have accepted the giant wheel as part of the city’s skyline.  Ivan Ho Man-yiu, a member of the official Harbourfront Commission said that ‘ it enriches the cityscape’.

As reported in SCMP, last-ditch efforts are under way to break a deadlock between the former and future operator of the Hong Kong Observation Wheel to save the tourist attraction from closure. If they don’t resolve the issue, the existing wheel will have to be dismantled to meet an October deadline for returning the site to the government in its original form.

Swiss AEX is the former tenant that lost the tendering of the site after its contract expired on August 28 to new tenant The Entertainment Corp Ltd. ( TECL). A Development Bureau spokesman said on Sunday that TECL had won the Observation Wheel contract after presenting a better “technical submission” and superior in various aspects, including pricing . He said the future operator was entitled to build a new wheel as long as it was at least 55 meters in diameter, adding that Swiss AEX must dismantle the current wheel by October 31. The building of a new but smaller wheel by the new operator may take time so the harbourfront will be without this giant structure for a time until a new one is constructed.