The City of Edmonton says the time for stringent consultation with the Chinese community and general public has passed on the culturally significant gate being rebuilt in Chinatown. The Harbin Gate, named for Edmonton’s sister city in China, is being installed on 97 Street just north of Jasper Avenue, about a block away from its previous location near 102 Avenue. The original structure, first erected in 1987, was dismantled in 2017 for LRT construction. As of Tuesday, the basic structure of the new, $8.7 million installation was complete as crews worked to enclose it with hordeum – a bio-based building material made primarily with agricultural byproducts – and finalize decoration before its unveiling in the middle of next year. “It’s very much at the structural stage right now, but it’s going to look like a very traditional Chinese gate when we’re done,” city LRT expansion manager Bruce Ferguson told CTV News Edmonton. “It’s much larger than the old one. We’ve tried to design it to reference and have some connections to the old gate … But also a bit of a modern flair to it as well.” Two local artists, Emily Chu and Halie Finney, were commissioned to decorate two north-facing gate panels. The City of Harbin will supply the artwork for the remaining two south-facing panels. Edmonton will also repurpose the original gate’s plaque and bell. Ferguson said his team has been working with local stakeholders and gleaned feedback from open houses when the project resurfaced in 2024. “The construction is underway, so I think the opportunity for consultation is behind us now. Now we’re in the ‘informing of progress’ stage of the project,” he said. In June, a Chinese community group withdrew support for the project amid consultation concerns and costly yet “inferior” materials. The Chinese Benevolent Association said its input into the construction of the Harbin Gate was sidelined by the city and failed to prioritize Chinatown tension points that have made headlines in recent years, such as safety, sanitation and business recovery. Sandy Pon, chair of the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative Society, previously vowed to “make the best of the situation,” but said her group wasn’t fully satisfied. “Unfortunately, a lot of times they might have gone to other sources that may not reflect all the people in the Chinese community and the Chinatown community …. A lot of times when people have only been here, 10, 20 years, they might not know the depth of the history of Chinatown,” she explained on Tuesday. She says the process had a “bit of a disconnect” in communication after a location for the new gate was chosen, but that the necessary groups are now “back at the table.” “We do appreciate the City of Edmonton recognizing the Chinese community, and the gate is very significant because now you see a renaissance, a rebirth of Chinatown … It has history, cultural significance.” Consulted or not, Stan Mah, the owner of Blue Willow Restaurant, hopes the new artwork really does signal a “rebirth” to Chinatown’s economy. “It shows how we have contributed to the Canadian society, we are part of the fabric of Edmonton. So that’s really quite important,” he said. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Miriam Valdes-Carletti
