Intl. Notebook | Jan 7 2009 |
After years of rumors, Hong Kong real estate developer Yu Pang-lin has officially donated martial arts legend Bruce Lee’s former townhouse to the government for the purpose of creating a museum to the dead star. Yu made the announcement at a press conference yesterday. The 5,700 sq. foot residence—which Lee called Crane’s Nest—is located in the Kowloon Tong district and is currently being used as an hourly-rate sex motel. Once the prosties get the boot, plans for the future museum include a recreation of Lee’s study and training hall, displays of martial arts weapons used in his films, and a library and cinema. Yu and his government partners hope the home becomes a Hong Kong version of Graceland. They can call it Karate-Your-Face-Land.
Update: plans to build the museum have fallen through due to what Hong Kong government officials cite as Yu Pang-lin's lack of sincerity in donating the property, pictured below. Apparently, Pang-lin has made numerous demands, not least among them to have the right to set up his own offices inside the museum. So it looks like it was all just an attempt to grab some easy cash, rather than a bona fide donation of the property. Which means Lee fans will have to wait a little longer for their museum.