After Vancouver’s Chinatown was largely ignored by all three levels of government during the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government announced funding for the historic neighbourhood on Monday.
International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan visited the Chinatown Storytelling Centre, where it was announced Ottawa will commit close to $2 million to help with revitalization.
Chinatown advocate Michael Tan sees the investment as a hard-fought victory.
“It’s been a challenge,” the Chau Luen Society director told Global News in an interview Sunday.
“I will have to say we’ve beaten down a lot of doors.”
Chinatown was in decline before COVID-19 hit, but the lack of tourists and shoppers during the pandemic forced businesses to close and exacerbated street disorder.
While federally-owned Granville Island received $ 39 million in emergency funding from Ottawa during the first two years of the pandemic, Tan told Global News in June 2021 that Chinatown was overlooked in a “zero-dollar effort to assist the neighbourhood.
Nearly two years later, he said he’s encouraged all three levels of government are “more engaged than ever”.
Urban planner Andy Yan said the initial investment is a beginning in terms of the federal government recognizing the importance of Chinatown.
“I think it’s a small down payment towards really the ongoing challenges for one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city, as well as one of the most significant in the country,” said the SFU City Program director.
The money, according to Vancouver Chinatown Foundation chair Carol Lee, will be used for infrastructure improvements – including illuminating cultural institutions like Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden and the Chinese Cultural Centre after dark.
“There’s so much beauty here in the buildings that people often can’t see at night,” said Lee
“The investment is not only going to make it more beautiful, it will make it feel safer.”
Lee said the plan is to light up the area like San Francisco, where buildings and alleys glow in the oldest Chinatown in North America – and it’s safe enough for all generations to walk at night.
Tan said one of his society’s building residents, a woman he’s known since he was a child, was the victim of last week’s stranger attack in Chinatown.
“Attacked on the street early in the morning just on her way to her swimming class,” Tan said.
“She’s 73 years old so to have illumination and better illumination for safety I think is urgently needed.”
Vancouver police said a senior was standing at a bus stop near Main and Keefer streets on Feb. 8, when a stranger approached from behind and pushed her to the ground. Tan said the victim was bruised and shaken.
Fortunately, police said a witness called 911, and officers were able to arrest the suspect.
Alan Kipson, 32, has been charged with one count of assault causing bodily harm in what police described as an “unprovoked assault”.
Tan said he’d like to see more funding for mental health support and addiction treatment to help one of Chinatown’s closest neighbours: the Downtown Eastside.
“Because when we help the Downtown Eastside that helps Chinatown.”