141 E Pender St

Located in the heart of Vancouver’s historic Chinatown, this two-storey brick building has a mezzanine floor, retail shops on the ground floor and a restaurant upstairs with a recessed balcony overlooking Pender St. Erected in 1921, the building was designed by W. H. Chow, the only practicing Chinese-Canadian architect at the time.

The brick-and-tile exterior walls and the heavy timber frame are typical of commercial buildings from this era. The original facade decoration was classical, with pilasters, capitals, and a deep cornice. In 1977, Chinese characters on the frieze, decorative panels, and balcony railings were added to enhance Chinese heritage value. During the second half of the 20th century, some of these elements were modified or lost due to the marketing of Chinatown to non-Chinese.

Heritage value is also found in the building’s association with Ron Bick Lee (Lee Yat Yee), a leading member of the Chinatown community, who purchased it in 1944. As an immigrant to Canada from Guangdong Province in 1909, Lee ran a successful import business (Foo Hung Co.). He was also active in politics and as a philanthropist for the Chinese Public School, the Lee’s Benevolent Association of Canada, and Vancouver Chinatown’s Lion’s Club.

This site is part of the Chinatown Historic Area, HA-1 in the City of Vancouver’s zoning bylaw. It is included in the Vancouver Heritage Register as a recognized part of the historic neighbourhood. Other similar municipally protected sites within a Historic Area are marked on the map with an O instead of the usual Heritage Register categories of A, B, or C. Some of these sites may be newer construction but are nonetheless still protected. For more information on the bylaw that governs the Chinatown Historic Area see: https://bylaws.vancouver.ca/zoning/zoning-by-law-district-schedule-ha-1-1a.pdf

Source

Canada's Historic Places

More information

http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=10623&pid=0