SHANGHAI, July 5 -- AN 80-year-old house in central Pudong New Area will be renovated into a residents' activity center - the first of its kind in Shanghai, Pudong officials said yesterday.

Located in the Zhangyang Road near the Yangjing River, the two-story house was built by a local tycoon surnamed Li in the early 1930s, and covers 800 square meters.

"We want to facelift the residential building to be used by more residents," She Zhizhong, an official of the Pudong's Yangjing Sub-District Government, said yesterday.

He said the district plans to rebuild the area surrounding the house into a public plaza over the next few months.

In addition to the building, the district has also designed tea houses, basketball courts, exhibition areas, gardens of seasonal plants and a site for residents to listen to various lectures - from cooking to daily health.

Inside the building, residents will be able to watch various types of performances on a regular basis, such as local operas and crosstalk shows.

The cost of the center is not known, but experts estimate it will exceed one million yuan (US$131,656).

Cao Yongkang, a professor of historic buildings at Jiao Tong University, said:"The house is one of the best conserved historic constructions in Pudong."

He said the layout of the house reflects a combination of traditional Chinese and western styles: it was built of Chinese red wall bricks and dark tiles with a center courtyard, while windows and door frames were carved with Chinese patterns such as flowers and birds.

However, the windows are embedded with colorful panes - widely used in western architecture.

The house has almost been abandoned since 2004, when a big fire ruined many neighboring buildings but only slightly affected the historic house.

Apart from this house, Pudong plans to renovate 53 historic houses and to develop them into scenic spots by 2010, when the World Expo is held.

Most heritage constructions in Pudong were built during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the early years of the Republic of China (1912-1949).