By Madeleine de Trenqualye on April 24, 2017
In 2014, the City of Vancouver announced a three-year, $2.5 million grant program to provide critical upgrades to Chinatown’s historic clan and society buildings. At the time, critics warned that while the funds would maintain the physical buildings, the neighbourhood was still under threat by accelerated gentrification. Then last year, the National Trust for Canada featured Vancouver’s Chinatown on its annual list of Top 10 Endangered Places. The charity blamed “relentless development,” warning that “without better control on new development and efforts to sustain local businesses, Chinatown’s unique character will be lost.”
Civic historian John Atkin agrees. “It’s easy to look at the society buildings and say, ‘Wow, we’ve saved Pender Street. Done.’ But if you lose the vegetable shops and the barbecue shops, then you don’t have a living neighbourhood. Pender Street would become a petting zoo for society buildings, but you have nothing else.”
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