The City of Vancouver is tearing down one wall of the historic Ming Sun building in the 400-block of Powell Street, but the rest of the building will be left intact — for now.
The building at 437-441 Powell St. is one of the 20 oldest buildings in Vancouver, and was once owned by a prominent Japanese-Canadian family.
On Nov. 15 the city had ordered the demolition of the building based on public safety concerns. The Ming Sun Benevolent Society, which owns the building, has asked for it to be preserved because of its heritage value.
The city gave the society until Monday, Dec. 9 to address the safety concerns of the brick wall on the west side of the building.
In an email statement to the Courier the city said it would engage an excavation company, structural engineer, and a heritage consultant to undertake the removal of the bricks on the west wall and chimney.
David Wong, a representative from the Ming Sun Benevolent Society, said he is in agreement with the city.
“We agreed to take down the west wall so that it doesn’t present any public safety hazards. We were going to do it ourselves [on Monday] but…we have limited resources.”
Tom Chow, the owner of Double Happiness Foods, located next door, hired an engineer to do a report on the safety of the brick wall at the Ming Sun building.
Chow said he was concerned after a wall collapsed in the building on the east side of the Ming Sun building in July.
“If it happened to the eastern wall it could happen to the western wall,” he said.
During that time Chow called the city to warn them that the building on the east side of Ming Sun was collapsing. He had been trying to buy the building.
According to a press release by the Ming Sun Benevolent Society, the building was torn down within a few hours of inspection on July 24 and caused structural damage to the Ming Sun building next door. The city said there is no evidence that the demolition of the adjacent building caused any damage to the Ming Sun building.
The residents of the Ming Sun building, and the Instant Coffee Artist Collective which occupied the storefront space, had to vacate the building after the demolition.
David Wong said that the empty building has been subject to what he believes is deliberate vandalism over the past few months.
“Whoever is doing the vandalism is targeting the vandalism so that it really makes it [the Ming Sun building] an ugly place.”
He said historic photographs and materials have been damaged.
Jenifer Papararo, a spokesperson for the Instant Coffee Artist Collective, said she hopes the city takes financial responsibility for both the vandalism and the damage that the artist collective and society believe was caused by the demolition of the neighbouring building.
“We’re really concerned about the cost of what it’s going to take to remove the bricks,” she said. “[We hope] the city takes some financial responsibility for the damages that have incurred since the demolition of the building.”
The future of the Ming Sun building is still in limbo.
An email statement from the City of Vancouver said that based on the outcome of the removal of the west wall, the city will work with Ming Sun to reassess the society’s approach to the outstanding issues in the building.
Wong said he hopes the Ming Sun Benevolent Society and the City of Vancouver can reach an agreement to preserve the building.
“We want to work with the city because this is a very historically significant building.”
Wong said that some of the first Chinese-Canadian lawyers and doctors came from the society housed in the building.
James Johnstone, a house history researcher in Vancouver, is critical of the city’s approach to the Ming Sun building.
“Vision’s name — Vision — just seems to not ring true, because they have no vision with regards to heritage in the city. It’s not just a little old building, it’s got lots to teach us.”
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