The City has begun construction of a new Chinatown Gate at 97th Street between Jasper Avenue and Okîsikow Way (101A Avenue). This is the site of Edmonton’s original Chinatown, but many of the businesses had to move or close when Canada Place was built in the late 1980s. 

The new gate replaces Harbin Gate on 102nd Avenue and 97th Street, built in 1987 as a gift from Edmonton’s twin city, Harbin, China. The original gate was dismantled and put in storage in 2017 to make way for the Valley Line Southeast LRT.

When the new site was chosen, which is wider than the original site, plans to relocate the old gate had to be changed. The City, in consultation with the Chinese Benevolent Association of Edmonton and other members of the Chinese community, has worked with traditional gate artists in Harbin to develop a design. Some features of the original gate will be introduced in the new one, including the plaque and bell and the stone lions.

The gate’s structure will be made from steel. The new gate will feature high-density polystyrene on its decorative features instead of the traditional clay materials.  These changes are intended to reduce costs and make the structure more durable. 

“The new gate will feature four art panels. Artwork for the two south-facing panels will be supplied by the City of Harbin. Artwork for the two north-facing panels will be designed by a local artist,” says Jarek Karpiejuk, Director, LRT Expansion and Renewal. The City issued a  public call for art earlier this year. As of press time, the submissions were still under review.

Kathryn Luu, chair of the Edmonton Chinatown Business Improvement Area (BIA), is pleased to see the project moving forward. “We are very happy it’s back,” she says. The BIA likes the location, which connects the original site of Chinatown in Edmonton with the Gate of Happy Arrival built in 1998 at 97th Street and 107A Avenue (near the Lucky 97 Supermarket). The Gate of Happy Arrival commemorates newcomers from Vietnam and other areas of Asia. “This is more than a landmark,” Luu says. “It brings people downtown to visit and builds community. It is an Instagram-able structure.”

Sandy Pon, chair of the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative Society of Edmonton (CTC), is also happy that the gate is finally being rebuilt. “We are very sad about what happened to the original gate but [are] looking forward,” she says.

Pon has concerns about the consultation process. “The community cannot see how the City’s contractors can come up with a price tag of $8.7M and yet state that savings are reflected through the substitution of inferior materials,” she says.

Plans are for the project to be completed in early 2027.

Anita Jenkins is a retired writer and editor who lives in Boyle Street.