Description du lieu patrimonial

Located in the heart of Vancouver’s historic Chinatown, on the north side of East Pender Street and just west of Main Street, the historic place is a two-storey brick building with a mezzanine floor, built in 1921. Retail shops occupy the ground floor and a restaurant upstairs has a recessed balcony overlooking Pender Street.

Valeur patrimoniale

The heritage value of 141 East Pender lies in its architecture, including having been designed by the only practising Chinese-Canadian architect of the day; and in the way its history reflects and informs our understanding of the history of Vancouver’s Chinatown.

Built in 1921, the building was designed by W.H. Chow, who made a significant contribution to the built form of Chinatown. Chow initially called himself a ‘contractor’ and ‘builder’. He was involved in the short-lived B.C. Society of Architects and used the term ‘architect’ on the drawings for this building, produced in late 1920. A half-year later, however, he was denied admission to the newly-incorporated Architectural Institute of BC.

The building has architectural features associated with Chinatown buildings, particularly the mezzanine between the first and second storeys, and the full-width recessed balcony on the upper floor. The brick-and-tile exterior walls and the heavy timber frame are representative of commercial buildings of the day. The original facade decoration was classical, with pilasters, capitals, and a deep cornice. This was made more ‘Chinese’ in 1977, with the addition of Chinese (and English) characters on the frieze, and decorative panels and balcony railings. Elements of these remain, although partly changed and partly lost. This represents the marketing of Chinatown to non-Chinese in the second half of the last century.

As was typical in Chinatown, the ground floor was used for retail shops and space upstairs was occupied by community organizations. The Shar Doey Mutual Society conducted the opening ceremonies for the building in December 1922 and remained for many years. It provided services and lodgings for men from Xinhui County (probably Guangdong Province). Other organizations upstairs included the Ching Won Musical Society (which sponsored Cantonese opera and music), the Hon Sing Club, the Chinese Social and Athletic Association, and the Anglican Church Relief Depot. The last is of particular interest because it is associated with the role the Anglican Church played as an agent of the City and the Province distributing relief payments, food, and clothes to unemployed Chinese men during the Depression. These men were paid half the rate of unemployed white men, on the assumption that they could live on less. Marginalized by poverty and race, their story provides insight into what it was like to be Chinese in Canada before World War II.

Happier memories are found in the long-standing use of part of the upper floor, from the 1940s onward, by Ming’s Restaurant, operated by Hong Wong, and by its successor, the Good Luck Cabaret. Ming’s advertised ‘authentic Chinese dishes at moderate prices’ and attracted both Chinese and non-Chinese diners. Many wedding banquets were held here. Its success reflected the continuing importance of Chinatown as a gathering place to Vancouver’s Chinese community, even as they began to live elsewhere in the city. It also reflected the promotion of Chinatown to non-Chinese as an exotic destination. The varied use of the building over the years, and the resulting layers of physical change, contribute to its heritage value.

Heritage value is found as well in the building’s association with Ron Bick Lee, a leading member of the Chinatown community, who purchased it in 1944. Born Lee Yat Yee, he came to Canada from Guangdong Province in 1909 at the age of 17, ran a successful import business (Foo Hung Co.), and was active in politics and as a philanthropist in the Chinese Public School, the Lee’s Benevolent Association of Canada, Lee’s Association of North America, and the Vancouver Chinatown’s Lion’s Club.

Source: City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program

Éléments caractéristiques

The character-defining elements of the building at 141 East Pender Street include:
- Location, on East Pender, west of Main Street, in the heart of Chinatown
- Two storey massing and rectangular form of the building, completely occupying the two lots
- The East Pender Street facade, with its recessed balconies and railings
- The Chinese lettering and decorative wood panels on the facade
- The cornice, which has remained intact through various changes to the facade
- Evidence of the mezzanine, seen in the smaller band of windows running above the first floor retail shop windows
- Small shops at retail level
- Central entry to the upper floors
- The mix of uses, with the ground floor used for retail shops and the upper floors used for community organizations and other purposes over time
- The rooftop skylights