New plans aim to guide future of Calgary's historic Chinatown

A city council committee has thrown its support behind two new plans that will help guide and enhance the future of Calgary's Chinatown.

On Friday, the infrastructure and planning committee unanimously supported the Chinatown cultural plan as well as a new area redevelopment plan for the historic downtown community.

Grace Su, chair of the Chinatown Business Improvement Area, said the plans address public concerns about future buildings in Chinatown and will ensure they'll fit in with its distinctive look.

"A lot of the plan has laid out very clear indications about what kind of developments would be suitable for Chinatown," said Su.

"It's very specific and there's no wishy-washy and second guessing, and it helps the community to engage and respond to a development's request."

The cultural plan, which is a first for a specific Calgary community, provides a broad direction for investing in Chinatown's cultural future. It identifies unique Chinatown experiences, amenities and tourism opportunities.

The area redevelopment plan lays out a comprehensive planning vision for the area that will help guide future developments in the community.

Building trust in communities

One thing Su is hoping will follow from the future approval by city council is money that would be used to improve Chinatown's public realm, help support community groups and assist with future events that would draw people to the area.

"We can build a community that not only works for the community but is also a local destination," said Su.

During the committee's deliberations, it was noted that Chinatowns across North America have been lost due to a lack of viability.

The area's councillor, Terry Wong, said he expects the question of public investment will likely be discussed during council's upcoming debate on a four-year budget in November.

He said capital investments are needed but other spending may be required as well to ensure Chinatown's viability.

"What we need to do on an operating side of the equation is ensure that the cultural associations, the cultural groups that are languishing because of revenue problems, can be supported … to help those organizations to move forward," said Wong.

Coun. Sonya Sharp, chair of the infrastructure and planning committee, said the city's overall strategy for what's called Tomorrow's Chinatown has been an important process in improving Chinatown's trust in the city's efforts.

"We have to recognize that in other cultures, government to them is: they don't trust government. So we have to make sure that we're building that trust," said Sharp.

Council as a whole will discuss the two plans at a meeting in December.

The city is also soon taking another step to improve relations with Chinatown's residents.

It's going to rename James Short Park and its attached parkade. Short was a lawyer who played a key role in anti-Chinese bigotry in Calgary in the early 1900s. 

A school that used to sit near the present day park site was named for him in the 1930s. The preserved cupola from that school is located in the park today.

In a report to the committee, administration stated that Short's "racist words and actions caused deep harm to the Chinese community and were not considered when the city's assets were named after him in 1991."

The revised name for the park and the underground parkade will go to city council at its meeting on Nov. 1. For now, the new name will remain under wraps.