Proposed Chinatown Millennium Gate

Supports Item No. 4
P&E Committee Agenda
September 20, 2001

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

Date: September 14, 2001
Authors/Locals:

Ken Low/6674
Susan Clift/7306 RTS No. 02260

CC File No.8102

P&E: September 20, 2001

TO: Standing Committee on Planning and Environment

FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services in consultation with the

Directors of Current Planning and Legal Services

SUBJECT: Proposed Chinatown Millennium Gate

RECOMMENDATION

A. THAT Council approve the Vancouver Chinatown Millennium Society's (referred as "the Society" for the remainder of the report) proposal to construct the Chinatown Millennium Gate (referred as "the Gate" for the remainder of the report), as shown on Appendix `A', over Pender Street, east of Taylor Street, subject to entering an agreement with terms and conditions to the satisfaction of the General Manager of Engineering Services and the Director of Legal Services as outlined in this report;

B. THAT Council approve the proposed geometric for Pender Street, between Carrall Street and Abbott Street, as shown on Appendix `B';

C. THAT Council release the previously approved $250,000 grant to the Society for the construction of the Gate, to be paid out in accordance with the provisions outlined in this report; source of funds to be Streets Basic Capital Unappropriated ACCOUNT 30000131 - Beautification and Street Trees;

D. THAT Council take ownership of the Gate on the condition that $50,000 be provided to the City's Public Art Maintenance Reserve for future maintenance of the Gate;

CONSIDERATION

E. THAT Council accept maintenance responsibility for the Gate, and in accordance with policy for all Public Art projects, provide sufficient funds to the Public Art Maintenance Reserve, (estimated to be $50,000); source of funds to be Streets Basic Capital Unappropriated ACCOUNT 30000131 -Beautification and Street Trees;

On the issue of providing security for the project, F and G are offered for Council's consideration as follows:

F. THAT Council require a Letter of Credit from the Society, for $500,000, the estimated cost of the Gate construction, as security to guarantee completion of the Gate;

OR

G. THAT Council require a lesser form of security by holding back $50,000 from the City's grant for the normal construction holdback period.

GENERAL MANAGER'S COMMENTS

The General Manager of Engineering Services recommends A, B, C and D for approval, presents E for consideration and the choice of F and G for consideration.

Consideration F is consistent with the City's standard practice and would provide sufficient funds to guarantee project completion.

COUNCIL POLICY

Approval of grants requires eight (8) affirmative votes.

The City, the Provincial and Federal Governments are committed in the Vancouver Agreement to support sustainable economic, social and community development in Vancouver, with the initial focus of the work to be in the Downtown East Side.

Although on the Pender Street dedication that is unzoned, the proposed location of the Gate is in the area that is currently zoned as HA-1 (Historic Area District). The intent of the HA-1 Guidelines is to preserve and protect the historic fabric of Chinatown and to ensure that new
development is supportive of and harmonious with the area's character.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this report is to
1) confirm that the conditions set out by Council at its meeting of November 4, 1999 for approval of the $250,000 funding for the Gate have been met;
2) request approval for the project to proceed subject to entering into a legal agreement with the Society;

3) request approval for the City to take ownership of the Gate upon construction completion subject to $50,000 being available to the Public Art Maintenance Reserve; and

4) present for Council consideration

a) that the City take maintenance responsibility for the Gate, at a cost of $50,000, and

b) two options for securing construction completion for the Gate.

BACKGROUND

At its meeting of November 4, 1999, Council approved that subject to confirming the design and implementation of the Gate, public support, and federal and provincial commitments to funding, the City will provide up to 1/3 of the cost of constructing the Gate, to a maximum of $250,000, source of funding to be the Streets Basic Capital Unappropriated - Beautification and Street Trees. The location of the Gate was approved to be on Pender Street, east of Taylor Street, to mark the western entrance to historic Chinatown.

Subsequently City staff worked with the community to form the Society made up of representatives from the Chinatown BIA, the Chinatown Merchants Association, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Gardens, S.U.C.C.E.S.S., Heritage Vancouver, Henderson Development Corp., Chinese Cultural Centre, Chinese Benevolent Association, the Chinatown Historic Area Planning Committee (CHPAC), the general public and City staff.

On February 17, 2001, representatives from the three levels of government, namely, Secretary of State Hedy Fry, then Community Development Minister Jenny Kwan and Mayor Philip Owen, jointly announced the approval of the $300,000 grant from the Western Economic Partnership Agreement. Together with the previously approved Provincial grant of $150,000, the total committed funds in federal/provincial government grants are $450,000.

DISCUSSION

The Society selected Mr. Joe Wai, architect, to design the Gate. Subsequently Mr. Wai proposed a classical four-column gate design, as shown on Appendix `A'. The Gate design elements are as shown on Appendix `C'.

To achieve the correct proportions for a classical Chinese Gate, Mr. Wai utilized four columns and three portal openings with carefully determined height-to-width ratios. The resulting configuration located the two middle columns in the Pender Street vehicular roadway, a challenging condition due to traffic movement and underground utility clearances. Nonetheless, the final design addressed and resolved these issues, and provides a landmark with classical and authentic character, essential criteria of the Society.

The Society and the community are in support of this design. Approximately three hundred people attended a fund rasing dinner in September, 2000 to raise approximately $25,000 towards the construction of the Gate. The Gate design was displayed at this dinner. A further $166,000 was raised through corporate sponsors, associations and residents, bringing the community raised funding total to $193,500. See Appendix `D' for details.

To obtain further public input, an open house was held on January 28, 2001 in the Chinatown Merchants Association Office at 508 Taylor Street, on the same day as the Chinatown New Year Parade. The comments received were largely supportive.

However, Mr. Jack Chow, a Chinatown business owner, expressed some concerns about the Gate design. Subsequently the Society met with Mr. Chow at a Board Meeting to hear his concerns. In response to one of Mr. Chow's concerns, the Society consulted a Feng Shui master to review the Gate design. The result of the review was mainly positive, with a number of recommendations for minor design revisions. To date, the Gate architect has made these revisions as per the recommendations.

Mr. Chow's other concern regarding the elimination of one driving lane on Pender Street, between Taylor Street and Carrall Street can best be answered by staff's comments (3), (4), (5) and (6) as listed In the "Transportation Implications" section.

LEGAL AGREEMENT

A legal agreement between the City and the Society will be required prior to the start of construction, anticipated late this fall, and expected to last 4 months. This Agreement will cover, but not limited to, the following conditions:

1) The Society will be required to give a minimum 30 day notice to the City prior to construction.

2) The Contractor will be insured, in the amount and coverage to the satisfaction of the Director of Legal Services.

3) A performance bond will be required to correct faulty workmanship.

4) Approval for the Gate design is subject to review by all affected utility companies, eg., Telus, Translink, Gas, and relevant City departments.

5) In accordance with Council's decision today, either a letter of Credit for $500,000 will be required as security to guarantee completion, or $50,000 of the City grant will be held back for the normal holdback period, usually 40 days after construction completion.

6) The City grant will be issued upon verification by the City Engineer, after review of the tenders, that sufficient funding is in place to complete construction. $145,000 will be held back for City use for curb, sidewalk and roadworks. Any unused portion of this $145,000will be forwarded to the Society. Of the remaining amount, either $105,000 or $55,000, depending on Council's decision on the appropriate form of security (see 5 above), 25% will be available upon start of construction, an additional 25% available at 50% completion, and the remaining 50% available at 80% completion.

7) Construction must be continuous, without stoppage, to completion. Any work stoppage more than 30 days will prompt the City to use the security to complete the construction. If the security is not sufficient to complete construction, then a further 60 days will be given to the Society to raise sufficient funding to complete construction. At such time if the required funding is not available, the City may choose to use the security to decommission the Gate.

TRANSPORTATION IMPLICATIONS

To accommodate the two middle columns on Pender Street, City's Engineering Services staff held numerous meetings with Mr. Wai and the affected utility companies. Subsequently numerous options were considered and the Millennium Society selected the option as shown on Appendix `B'. The City's Engineering Services staff approved this option with the following comments:

1) The sidewalk on the south side of Pender Street between Taylor Street and the lane east of Taylor Street is widened from 3.8 metres to 6.6 metres.
2) The sidewalk on the north side of Pender Street between Taylor Street and Carrall Street is narrowed from 6 metres to a range of 5.3 and 3.4 metres.
3) The existing bike lanes are retained for travel in both directions.
4) The existing bus stops for bus and trolley service are maintained.
5) The westbound traffic lanes on Pender Street between Carrall Street and Abbott Street are reduced from two lanes to one moving lane and one parking lane, consistent with the section east of Carrall Street.
6) On street parking total is increased by six spaces.

OWNERSHIP

The Society requested that upon construction completion that the City take ownership of the Gate. The implication being that all future liability and maintenance for the Gate would rest with the City. Staff recommend taking ownership of the Gate on the condition that $50,000 be provided to the City's Public Art Maintenance Reserve for future maintenance of the Gate.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

The total cost of designing, constructing and providing for future maintenance of the Gate is estimated to be $940,750, including G.S.T. See Appendices `E' and `F' for more details. Therefore, excluding the estimated $50,000 cost of future maintenance, the total cost of designing and construction of the gate is estimated to be $890,750, including G.S.T.

To date the Society has raised $893,500, as outlined in Appendix `D', to cover all the capital costs as requested by Council. Please note that this total is based on the anticipation that the City grant of $250,000 would be approved. However, funding for future maintenance is unavailable. Therefore the Society is requesting the City provide an additional $50,000 for future maintenance of the Gate for the following reasons:

1) The project must be completed by March 2002 in order to utilize the grants from the Provincial and Federal governments; and
2) Once constructed, this Gate would likely be a significant tourist attraction, which would enhance the economic development and revitalization of historic Chinatown.

City staff propose that Council may consider funding the additional $50,000 grant if it is allocated directly to the Public Art Maintenance Reserve.

In summary, if approved by Council, the City's financial contributions to this project as presented in Recommendation C and Consideration item E in this report, would total $300,000, allocated from Street Basic Capital Unappropriated Account 30000131 - Beautification and Street Trees.

SECURITY

The issue of security has not been resolved with the Society. It has been the City's standard practice for all work on City street that will be owned by the City, that some form of security either in the form of cash or a Letter of Credit, be required to guarantee completion of the project. The rationale is that if the project were not completed, then the City could use the security to complete the work. Staff advise that the standard procedure would be to secure 100% of the construction cost, estimated to be approximately $500,000.

The Society had difficulty in obtaining any form of security more than $50,000 from a financial institution as it has no assets and the Gate itself has no resale value. The Society believes that the requirement for any security more than $50,000 is an unresolvable hardship on the project. The Society is requesting that the City reduce the requirement for security for the following reasons:

i) This community project is in line with the City's efforts to revitalize Chinatown;

ii) In order to reduce uncertainty over construction costs, the Society will have:

a) all underground utilities exposed for their exact locations and depth prior to construction, thereby avoiding unforseen conflicts; and
b) a quantity surveyor to prepare the cost estimate for Gate construction and subsequently will pursue a fixed-price contract;

iii) The Society so far has raised $893,500 (including the $250,000 approved-in- principle City of Vancouver contribution) from the three levels of government and the community, showing that strong support for the Gate is apparent;

Staff believe that it would not be prudent to allow the work to proceed without some form of security to guarantee construction completion. As the project is on City street, the City would take on liability for the project with nothing to fall back on in the event of a failure to complete. Staff present for consideration the option of holding back $50,000 from the City grant until the normal construction holdback period, usually 40 days. This is a reduced form of security that could either be used to complete construction of the Gate, or in the worst case scenario, and subject to Council review, it could be used to decommission the Gate.

SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS

Staff consider that this project will have many positive social impacts. The Gate will provide a visually pleasing and culturally interesting classical entrance way to historic Chinatown. It is located on the Silk Road route and will add to the nearby Chinatown attractions such as the bell in Shanghai Alley, the Sam Kee Building, the wall mural which illustrates the history of Chinese

Canadians in Vancouver, the Chinese Cultural Centre, and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Gardens. It would also likely enhance the residents' sense of pride and ownership in the local areas and culture.

CONCLUSION

Staff believe that this project has considerable merit, community interest and support, and request that Council approve recommendations A through D, and consider items E through G.

The Society prepared its own report for your information, attached as Appendix `G'.

NOTE FROM CLERK: Electronic copies of Appendices are not available - on file in the Office of the City Clerk.

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