Phase 2 Consultation: Expand the Vision for the Memorial Square to include Community Development!

Photo: Rally against Developer Beedie’s luxury condos at 105 Keefer; credits: Nat Lowe (2017)

The City of Vancouver is in their Phase 2 of Consultations regarding the Chinatown Memorial Square Resdeign Project。There is a survey for this Phase as well. The deadline to complete this survey is Monday Dec. 13th.

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After analysis and discussion among our members, we feel the Draft Vision and Goals remain too narrow.

• We ask the City to include Community Development at the Memorial Square, to build a Chinese-Canadian Museum and a multi-use seniors community centre.
• We should not miss this opportunity to redesign the Square and further expand it, more than the two Ideas the City is currently considering. The City needs to find a way to acquire nearby properties, including 105 Keefer and 129 Keefer.

These are our main points in response to the current Consultation Phase. We have also prepared a more detailed Guide to support people in filling out the survey. We hope you will take a few minutes to fill out the City’s phase and to ask them to expand the Vision for the Square to include Community Development!

Take the Survey

咨詢第二階段：要求擴大廣場視野，促進社區發展！

照片：反對Beedie發展商在奇化街105號建高價樓的集會；由劉成皿拍攝（2017年）

溫哥華市府正在進行為紀念碑廣場重新設計計劃的第二階段社區咨詢。今次還有一份問卷。填寫問卷的截止日期是12月13日(周一)。

經過關注組組員的分析和討論，我們認爲紀念碑廣場的願景和目標草案太窄了。

• 我們要求市府在廣場促進社區發展，建立紀念館和長者活動中心。
• 我們不能錯過這個機會重新設計紀念碑廣場來更廣泛擴展廣場，超過市府現在所考慮的兩個方案。市府必須找辦法收購附近土地，尤其是奇化街105號和奇化街129號。

以上是我們對現階段咨詢的重點。我們也準備了這份 “填寫問卷指引”，裏面會更仔細協助您填寫市府的問卷。我們希望您也抽一些時間填寫市府的問卷，呼籲他們擴大廣場視野，促進社區發展！

“Over 50 Chinatown community members walked out of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s fifth and final public meeting on the sale and redevelopment of Parcels 25 and 26”

July, 1, 2016 – Sampan

By the Chinese Progressive Association and the Asian Community Development Corporation

Yesterday evening starting at 6pm, MassDOT, along with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, held its fifth and final public meeting at the State Transportation building, where it unveiled the final guidelines and Invitation to Bid on Parcels 25 and 26. The Chinatown community has dedicated countless hours attending all five meetings and submitting oral and written comments during and after each meeting. The Chinatown community has patiently followed along with MassDOT’s public process, repeating the community’s needs time and time again. MassDOT has failed to respond in good faith and as a result the Chinatown community felt it had exhausted its options and was compelled to walk out en masse.

“蒸汽廠地段開發可能影響華埠公園前景”

2016-06-10 – 舢舨

關於尼倫街公眾地段的公聽會6月7日在交通大樓舉行。地點包括黃述沾紀念公園、尼倫街185號麻州交通署第6區辦公室和尼倫街165號Veolia能源蒸汽廠。

這是陳述麻州交通署方針的第四場公聽會和對麻州交通署25和26號地段，即地區辦公室和蒸汽廠將來潛在再開發的招標。

黃述沾紀念公園是華埠少數露天場所之一。此處定期舉行台山華人移民發起的街頭運動九人排球賽。1930年代開始成立巡迴賽，如今當地球隊有波城洪青隊、波士頓劍虹隊和波士頓安良颱風隊。

“Veolia steam plant development could affect Chinatown park”

June, 10, 206 – Sampan

A community meeting about public land parcels on Kneeland Street took place June 7 at the Transportation Building. The site includes the Reggie Wong Memorial Park, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) District 6 Office at 185 Kneeland Street and the Veolia Energy steam power plant at 165 Kneeland Street.

The meeting was the fourth community meeting to present MassDOT guidelines and the Invitation to Bid (ITB) for potential redevelopment of MassDOT Parcel 25 and Parcel 26, respectively the district office and steam power plant.

Reggie Wong Memorial Park is one of Chinatown’s few open spaces. It hosts nine-man volleyball tournaments regularly, a street sport developed by Chinese immigrants with roots in Toishan. A traveling tournament was formed in the 1930s. Local teams today include the Chinese Freemasons, the Boston Knights and the Boston Hurricanes.

“楊海城粵劇藝術藏品展 Exhibition of Hoi Seng Ieong’s Cantonese Opera Arts Collection”

大溫哥華中華文化中心 Chinese Cultural Centre

開幕禮：2016年6月25日（星期六）下午二時
展覽日期：2016年6月21 日至7月3日
周二至周六上午9:30至下午5:30開放。免費參觀，隨緣樂助。
地址：中華文化中心文物館，溫哥華哥倫比亞街555號
查詢：(604) 658-8880

Opening reception: Saturday June 25, 2016 2:00pm
Exhibition dates: June 21 – July 3, 2016
Tuesday – Sunday 9:30am – 5:30pm
Closed on Mondays. Admission by donation.
Chinese Cultural Centre Museum, 555 Columbia Street, Vancouver, B.C. V6A 4H5 Canada
Inquiries: (604) 658-8880

“What does the future hold for this Chinatown park?”

June, 5, 2016 – Boston Globe

Volleyball games are a summertime staple at Reggie Wong Park in Chinatown. The park and the surrounding block are being sold by the state to developers.

They come a couple of evenings a week every summer, teenagers from Brighton, Malden, Quincy, and nearby Chinatown, to a volleyball court at the foot of an old steam plant by the Southeast Expressway.

They come to learn a sport that’s been native to this neighborhood for decades: Nine-man volleyball, a city version of the beach game created by restaurant workers in the 1930s and still played in Chinatowns up and down the East Coast, by new immigrants and established club teams such as the Boston Knights and the Chinese Freemasons.

But this summer, the future of the game’s home turf in Boston is cloudy.

“Portsmouth Square: A Historic Hub And Community Centerpiece”

May, 29, 2016 – Hoodline

Socializing in Portsmouth Square | Photo: Flickr/Michael Fraley

Originally called the Plaza, and now known as the “Heart of Chinatown,” the city’s oldest public square harkens back to the days of Yerba Buena, the small coastal settlement that became San Francisco.

Portsmouth Square bears very little resemblance to its past, but the plaza is a significant historic and cultural space that continues to function as a focal point for community gatherings.

“Pushing Hands: Tai Chi in Chinatown Draws Both Young and Old”

May, 28, 2016 – Hoodline

Visit Chinatown in the early morning, and you’ll may come across Chinese elders stepping through the graceful and deliberate movements of tai chi in Portsmouth Square or Washington Square Park. But despite its reputation as a popular activity for the elderly, this Chinese martial art is enjoyed by both young and old folks alike.

Originating in traditional Taoist and Confucian philosophies, the internal martial art of tai chi today includes five schools based on variations of a parent style founded in Chen Village in China’s Henan Province in the 17th century.

“Schema Interviews Chanel Ly, Chinese Seniors Outreach Worker”

Mar. 28, 2016 – Schema Magazine

CHANEL LY – PHOTO BY SID CHOW TAN

Chanel Ly is a Chinese Seniors Outreach Worker in the Downtown Eastside and connect seniors to support services. She helped organize UNTOLD STORIES: voices of Chinatown seniors, which was a public conversation covering how seniors in Chinatown are affected by the changing neighbourhood. Chanel moderated the conversation and illuminated how Chinese seniors are impacted socially, culturally, and economically. Schema’s coverage on the event can be read here. After the public conversation, I had the pleasure of interviewing Chanel.