Home / Accueil

Chin Wing Chun Society Building

158 East Pender Street, Vancouver, Colombie-Britannique, V6A, Canada

Reconnu formellement en: 2003/01/14

Exterior view of the Chin Wung Chun Society Building; City of Vancouver, 2004
Front facade
Pas d'image
Pas d'image

Autre nom(s)

s/o

Liens et documents

Date(s) de construction

1925/01/01

Inscrit au répertoire canadien: 2007/07/25

Énoncé d'importance

Description du lieu patrimonial

The Chin Wing Chun Society Building, at 158 East Pender Street in Vancouver's Chinatown, is a narrow, four-storey brick and stucco building in the classical revival style, which houses Tong meeting rooms over a street-level store.

Valeur patrimoniale

The Chin Wing Chun Society Building has value for being representative of buildings erected and occupied by major Tongs (surname societies) during a period of rapid growth in Chinatown, and for being an excellent example of the Chinatown style of architecture.

The Chin Wing Chun Society Building is a particularly good example of the mature Chinatown style and this is an important aspect of its heritage value. Four storeys high (with a 'cheater' mezzanine added after completion) and free of interior columns, it has retail space (in this case a restaurant) on the ground floor, offices above, and a meeting room on the top floor. The street-facing windows on the upper floors are all recessed behind balconies flush with the stucco finish. The pedimented parapet features the name of the Tong and the date of construction (1925). Like most buildings of this kind, the architect, R.A. McKenzie, was European-Canadian.

The building accommodated the Chin Wing Chun Society, the association that provided support and protection to people with the surname 'Chin', 'Chan', or 'Chen', whose ancestral birthplace was Wing Chun Village in Hunan Province. Organizational life flourished in Chinatown during the early 1920s; the number of active Tongs expanded and they assumed an important role as property owners along Pender Street. The reasons for expansion include the overall increase in Chinatown's population, fuelled by immigration from China and migration from other centres in British Columbia, an increased interest in Chinese politics within the immigrant community, and heightened discrimination from the white community.

Heritage value is also found in the significant contributions several members of the Society made to the community. An example is Chin Chuck Lin (Harry Chin), who came to Vancouver from Guangdong as a teenager in 1920, began work as a vegetable peddler, went on to flourish as a produce and floral wholesaler, and donated generously to Chinese cultural and charitable organizations through his Harry Lin Chin Foundation.

Source: City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program

Éléments caractéristiques

The character-defining elements of the Chin Wing Chun Society Building include:
- Location on East Pender Street in the heart of Vancouver's Chinatown district
- Tall narrow street elevation
- Decorative elements, including twin flagpoles, raised parapet incorporating pediment with date of completion, frieze, tympanum with inset Society name, cornice and hood mould, columns, pilasters, strings, dentils and corbels.
- Recessed balconies, and the remnants of the original red colour of their floors
- The asymmetrical storefront arrangement with side stair
- The decoration in the staircase and the interior meeting hall

Reconnaissance

Juridiction

Colombie-Britannique

Autorité de reconnaissance

Ville de Vancouver

Loi habilitante

Vancouver Charter, art.593

Type de reconnaissance

Désignation patrimoniale

Date de reconnaissance

2003/01/14

Données sur l'histoire

Date(s) importantes

s/o

Thème - catégorie et type

Établir une vie sociale et communautaire
L'organisation communautaire

Catégorie de fonction / Type de fonction

Actuelle

Communauté
Local pour association fraternelle, organisation sociale ou de bienfaisance

Historique

Commerce / Services commerciaux
Établissement de restauration ou de débit de boissons
Commerce / Services commerciaux
Bureau ou édifice à bureaux

Architecte / Concepteur

R.A. McKenzie

Constructeur

s/o

Informations supplémentaires

Emplacement de la documentation

City of Vancouver Heritage Conservation Program

Réfère à une collection

Identificateur féd./prov./terr.

DhRs-147

Statut

Édité

Inscriptions associées

s/o

RECHERCHE DANS LE RÉPERTOIRE

Recherche avancéeRecherche avancée
Trouver les lieux prochesTROUVER LES LIEUX PROCHES ImprimerIMPRIMER
Lieux proches