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The Powell Street Festival takes place on the traditional, unceded and occupied territories of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.
Letter to Mayor Gregor Robertson Addressing the Demolition of 411 Powell Street
To read a letter from Powell Street Festival Society’s President Nina Inaoka Lee to Mayor Gregor Robertson addressing the demolition order for 437-441 Powell Street please click on the link below: MayorandCouncil_437-441PowellSt
A building of historical importance to the Chinese Canadian and Japanese Canadian communities is slated for demolition today: Monday, December 9th, 2013. Until this summer, the building was housing immigrant seniors and included an affordable studio for the Instant Coffee artist collective on the main floor.
In light of the apology on September 25th, 2013 to the Japanese Canadian community for the City of Vancouver’s role in uprooting Japanese Canadians from this neighbourhood, including from this actual building, and their promise to continue to work with our community to preserve its history and pledge “do all it can to ensure such injustices will not happen again to any of its residents, thereby upholding the principles of human rights, justice and equality now and in the future,” the demolition of this building is in contradiction to promises that they have already made.
Furthermore, the Mayor proclaimed April 24, 2010 Ming Sun Benevolent Association Day in honour of the current owners of the building.
441 Powell Street is a building that was included in The Open Doors project, which was a collaboration between the Powell Street Festival Society and the Japanese Canadian National Museum (now the National Nikkei Museum).
More information is included below about the history of the building and this is the article from The Vancouver Sun: