Eight fire-damaged heritage shophouses along Acheh Street will be restored and repurposed into the Cultural Heritage Hub, in a project that George Town World Heritage Incorporated says is meant to show how adaptive reuse can keep old buildings active without stripping away their heritage value.
The shophouses, classified as Category II heritage buildings, were badly damaged in a 2015 fire and have remained structurally unsafe for years. Under a 30-year agreement, Lim Kongsi Toon Pun Tong has leased the properties to GTWHI at nominal rent, allowing the agency to restore and operate the site as a public cultural space.
GTWHI general manager Ang Ming Chee said the project is intended to help preserve George Town’s ageing pre-war shophouses while linking conservation to the creative economy. She said the site is also meant to create market opportunities for young artisans and cultural practitioners so they can continue to live and work in the city.
The planned hub will include a George Town Unesco World Heritage Site interpretive centre, a creative economy incubation centre and a cultural practitioner interactive space for exhibitions, workshops and community programmes. GTWHI said it is seeking proposals, investors and private-sector sponsorship as it works toward a project estimated to take two to three years and cost about RM10 million.
George Town has about 371 Category II shophouses, making the Acheh Street project a visible test case for conservation in a city where heritage properties still need practical uses to remain viable. The approach follows a broader preservation trend in which historic buildings are adapted for new functions while retaining their main structures and character.
