Chinese Cultural Center, Phoenix
Hanyu Pinyin Fènghuángchéng Zhōngguó Wénhuà Zhōngxīn | | |
Yue: Cantonese | ||
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Jyutping | Fung6wong4sing4 Zung1gwok3 Man4faa3 Zung1sam1 |
The Chinese Cultural Center (
Background
The original plans were announced in spring 1996, for a "Chinese Arizona Center" developed by Chinese-government owned
The project budget was $90 million[5], with $35 million allocated to the main building.[6] The developer noted that the Phoenix metropolitan area had around 100,000 people of Asian descent at the time, yet was one of the largest cities in the county without a Chinese cultural center or a Chinatown area.[5]
A groundbreaking ceremony was held in November 1996, complete with balloons, dancing dragons and a
Area Chinese-Americans said at the time that the center would "fulfill a longtime dream of their community, providing a place where they can meet and where other can come to learn more about China and its heritage."[8] The developer also saw an opportunity to attract more Asian companies to Phoenix.[3]
The architect was Cornoyer-Hedrick, a Phoenix firm, and the general contractor was Kitchell Corp.[8] The topping out of the steel framework occurred in June, 1997.[9]
Architecture and construction
The center was structurally of modern construction with a steel frame, but designed with many traditional elements of
Gardens
The east side of the complex had
All the carved-wood elements in the garden were assembled with the traditional interlocking method used for a thousand years. There were no fasteners.[10]
Included were two
Other features included a 30-foot (9.1 m) tall replica of the Lingxing Gate at the
Original tenants
Supermarket
The developer announced in August 1997 that the anchor tenant, the center's Asian supermarket, would be the 21st location of 99 Ranch Market and one of a few outside California. The chain, owned by TAWA, said the market would include live fish, and unique Asian fruit and vegetables and other items.[3] It was the first tenant of the center to open in December, 1997.[13] The store opened with 20,000 non-perishable items, 70% of which were imported, a fast-food buffet, a Taiwanese deli, and a Chinese bakery. The Asian produce was either imported or grown in California. Live seafood included catfish, lobster, crabs, and mussels. Many kinds of fresh fish were available.[14] The store manager reported just after opening that its novelty made it a popular destination of school field trips.[15]
Retail and other
The three-story center had approximately 78,000 sq ft (7,200 m2)[13] of office space on the upper two floors that could be leased or purchased. The ground floor had restaurants and other retail space. Although developed as a Chinese-themed center, there were also Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese restaurants. The developer wanted the center "to be known as the place to go if you are looking for Asian food".[3]
Grand opening
The center was formally opened a year after the supermarket, in December 1998 with fireworks and
Community reception
As the center was owned by the communist government of China, it was not universally supported. A spokesperson downplayed political association, saying the center "signifies the culture of all the Chinese people". The director of the center, Chinese-born Elizabeth Mann also said the center was promoting culture and not government. The center was the host location of the annual Phoenix "Chinese Week" in 1999, but the opening ceremony was held at Phoenix City Hall due to concerns of Taiwanese participants. State representative Barry Wong noted that he supported the center, but had to be careful to "not promote their [China's] government". Others said that although the building showed Chinese architecture, beyond that and the gardens, "you don't see much Chinese culture there". Wong commented that the center planned to host Chinese artists and performers, but it was primarily a Chinese-themed for-profit commercial investment.[6]
In February 2000,
The center also hosted an annual
Later development
Ichi Ban, an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet, was open in 2000.[19] A bank geared toward the Asian-American community, the Asian Bank of Arizona, was added to the center in 2005.[20] The other two-thirds of the site was developed and contained a surgical center and townhouses that did not carry any Chinese motif and thus were never considered part of the center. The hotel and office towers were not built.[10]
Demise
Two of its restaurants, Golden Buddha, specializing in
The property was sold by COFCO in June 2017 for $10.5 million[23] to a private-equity company who planned to redevelop it for other uses, removing the elements of Chinese architecture and remodeling the property into a modern looking office building.[11]
The new owner, True North (later Outlier) had budgeted $10 million to remodel the property as its own corporate headquarters,[24] housing approximately 350 of its 12,500 employees.[22]
The supermarket, which was renamed to Super L Ranch Market when it changed ownership c. 2006, did not have a long-term lease and was given thirty days, extended once, to vacate by True North. Super L rushed to relocate and moved several miles away to a smaller location in south Scottsdale, a defunct Fresh & Easy store, without room for the bakery, live seafood, or fresh meat department. It was unprofitable at the new location and closed in 2019.[24]
Other businesses failed to reach agreements with True North to stay at the center. Beijing Garden, a restaurant, refused to leave after its lease expired. The restaurant said its attempts to extend or renew a lease were ignored. True North said it was ignored by the restaurant's owner and it resorted to legal "self-help" eviction methods such as cutting off utilities to force the restaurant to leave.[25]
Preservationists and some members of the Chinese community fought to have the building and grounds kept intact, and the owner offered to keep the gardens in place. Lawyers for True North noted that the owner's property rights were protected by Proposition 207, requiring property owners to be compensated for loss of value caused by any government restriction of property rights, which was passed by a wide margin in the aftermath of 2005 US Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London.[22]
Opposition was led by the Chinese United Association of Greater Phoenix, which represented nearly 20 different entities opposed to the redevelopment. The group attempted to explain the significance of the center to the Asian community, obtain a historic designation from the city, and pursued other legal efforts. True North said in 2017, after evicting Super L, that some of the smaller tenants would be able to stay in a much improved property. By mid-August, almost 4,000 people signed a petition asking that the center be preserved and a protest attracted 250. Hundreds returned for weekly protests on the weekends.[26]
Initially, True North offered several concessions including maintaining the garden area and keeping it open to the public during business hours, relocating statues and signs, spare roof tiles and other unique elements to another location, preservation of the Welcome Gate, and providing 8,000 sq ft (740 m2) of space for non-profit use for up to three years.[22]
In a September 2017 Phoenix City Council meeting, nearly 200 citizens, many Chinese-American, attended to seek historic designation for the center. The council voted unanimously to consider the issue further if the preservation proponents produced an analysis of the property's historical significance. The council decision did not prevent the developer from moving forward.[27] The citizen's petition, which had accumulated 16,000 signatures by the meeting, required a formal response from the city according to the city charter.[28] The petition asked the council to "ensure long-term preservation" of the center. The petition did allow the issue to get before the council without going through the normal historic-preservation process. The council could not have approved the measure (granting a historic designation) without violating a state law requiring consent of the property owner.[29] Furthermore, officials of the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office said that sites must be at least 50 years old or be "exceptionally important" to receive a historic designation.[26][a]
On September 13, 2017, access to the gardens was restricted by fencing, leading to claims of religious prejudice by
Elizabeth Mann, who was heavily involved in the original development of the center and ran it for its first decade, left BNU in 2008 and was a leader of the redevelopment opposition. Her group frequently protested at the site for over a year.[31]
A legal battle ensued. A request to a federal judge to prohibit changes to the center's "religious elements" was denied.
Local orthopedic surgeon Dr.
The Chinese United Association of Greater Phoenix had hired Tom Simon as its spokesperson. He had attended the first organized protest and "claimed to have media and political connections". He regularly represented the group at Phoenix City Council meetings with an aggressive style. When news of his criminal background surfaced, Yeung raised concerns. Simon was accused of sexually harassing a Chinese-American woman and arrested, which cost him his job as spokesman in July. Former Phoenix mayor Phil Gordon, who initially supported the preservationists, said Simon's unprofessionalism caused him to withdraw his assistance. Gordon said Simon was the primary reason the dispute was not settled out of court through amicable negotiations. However, a lawyer for the Chinese community said the Simon issue was just a diversion orchestrated by True North.[40]
By September 2018, the number of legal challenges had grown to ten.[40] The community took the protest to social media[40][41] and held an in-person protest against Kate Gallego, a 2018 Phoenix mayoral candidate who had "accepted $75,000 in campaign donations from the owners of [the center] and their spouses."[40] Yeung was quoted in the media as saying "Why would David Tedesco take on the Chinese community when he can acquire property elsewhere?" Others had often noted that True North could go into any office building, while there was only one irreplaceable Chinese Cultural Center. Tedesco's response was that the $10.5 million he paid for the center was "extremely inexpensive".[40]
In December 2018, Chinese-American community members claimed that had the "money and resources to purchase the center"[37] and were willing to buy the center for $18 million. The owner reportedly said the offer was a year too late and the property was not for sale[10] and that they had never received a "serious and credible offer" earlier when they were willing to sell. The company continued interior demolition and remodeling while the injunction prevented work on the exterior.[37]
Despite being a 5% owner of the center and having the strongest lawsuit blocking the makeover, Szechwan Palace closed in December 2018 after 19 years at the center, announcing that it would relocate the business.[42]
Ultimately, the owner prevailed and eventually evicted the last tenants. The roof tiles were too deteriorated to save, and the gardens were leveled. The only elements kept were approximately two dozen stone carvings of classical Chinese guardian figures. Some were supposedly made from a stone that could no longer be exported from its source province in China. As of January, 2020, the statues were in storage.[11] The center was renamed the Outlier Center reflecting its use as an office building for the global headquarters of the new owner.[43]
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The southeast corner in 2022, location of the Chinese gardens
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The west side in 2022, main entrance
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Street sign in 2022 still showing "COFCO" name
Chinatowns in Phoenix
Phoenix had a Chinatown in the 1870s populated mostly by Chinese who had emigrated the US to work on construction of railroads, especially the
Notes
- Santa Rita Center, where Cesar Chavez's 24-Day Fast for Justice took place in 1972 during the civil rights movement.[23]
- condominium units, True North owned 98 units[34]
See also
References
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- ^ a b c d e f g Chan, Cecilia (November 13, 2018). "East Valley group offers $18M cash to save Chinese center". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
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- ^ a b c d "New Owner of Former Chinese Cultural Center Property In Phoenix Proposes Options To Preserve Heritage & Protect Property Rights". arizonaprogressgazette.com. Arizona Progress & Gazette. 7 September 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ a b Cabral, Angelica (August 29, 2017). "Phoenix Chinese community shocked by sale of cultural center property". Cronkite News. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^
- ^ Spiess, Rebecca (June 22, 2018). "Patriot Movement AZ supports preservation of Chinese Cultural Center". Cronkite News. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
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- ^ Trimble, Lynn (November 13, 2018). "This Is a Hate Crime: Battle Heats Up Between Activists and Developers at Chinese Cultural Center". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
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- ^ "Changes to Phoenix Chinese Cultural Center blocked for now". Washington Times. December 27, 2017. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
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- ^ Gonzalas, Angela (May 4, 2018). "Why True North isn't quite ready to renovate Chinese Cultural Center roof". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Boehm, Jessica (September 24, 2018). "One year later, Phoenix Chinese Cultural Center fight rages on". Arizona Republic. Phoenix. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- ^ "Help us save the Phoenix Chinese Cultural Center". phoenixchineseculturalcenter.com. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ "Outlier". Retrieved April 8, 2022.
- OCLC 1005616452.
- ^ "Asian District – Mesa, Arizona". asiandistrictmesa.com. Retrieved March 1, 2022.