Saving Phoenix Chinatown
Tax deductible
HELP SAVE THE PHOENIX CHINESE CULTURAL CENTER...TIME IS RUNNING OUT
A new owner plans to destroy the Phoenix Chinese Cultural Center unless we stop them! We can...and we must!
True North Companies is planning to remove all features connected with Chinese culture and history from the exterior of the buildings. They want to create another standard "modern" office building in a city where millions of square feet of office space was just created last year. We don't need more office space, we need our history, we need culture.
We are fighting hard, gathering for demonstrations and a vigil; we have launched an extensive social-media campaign, petitioned the City Council and other authorities to help preserve the Chinese Cultural Center. We have sought legal advice, as well. This is a very costly process, as we need to pay for various professional services. Our legal bills and other costs are mounting and we need to be prepared for whatever battles are forthcoming as we fight to preserve the Cultural Center.
Located on 44th Street and Van Buren, the Chinese Cultural Center and Garden was constructed twenty years ago. It is a unique asset for the City of Phoenix as it was designed as a whole. We do not intend to allow Big Business to destroy it. When built, expert advise on architecture and features were obtained from China along with specialized natural and man-made materials direct from China. Moreover, Chinese traditional artisans using techniques both time-honored and now largely lost with modern industrial production were by special privilege brought to Phoenix to install and create the site. As an example of the tedious and specialized work entailed in the project, the main structure roofing, with upturned eaves, uitlized 1 million tiles, a scale unparalleled in most of America.
The monumental statuary, the steles, and other stonework were similarly sourced in China from a site which is now a national preserve and unavailable. The "Garden of Harmony" is modelled upon features many centuries old from numerous sites that are equally emblamatic and evocative. The Cultural Center and Garden at their creation in 1997 definetly symbolizes good will between the peoples of the United States and China.
Particularly in Arizona and Phoenix, the Cultural Center and Garden is not only an irreplaceble icon but has been and could be again a vibrant heart of commerce, cuisine and cultural activities. For most of its entire existence, this has been and will continue to be true.
America prides itself as a melting pot of many peoples from all over the world. This tradition from the Founding of the Nation should guide both the new owner and the City of Phoenix to act in the best interest of both present and future Arizonans and Americans.
We pledge to you to fight for the preservation of this jewel, the Phoenix Chinese Cultural Center and Garden. This is a battle worth fighting, and one we will win with your help.
Please donate now and share this link and page on social- media.
We appreciate your support and we will keep you posted of our fight to save the Chinese Cultural Center, and save Arizona history!
CUAGP by Special Resolution of the Executive Committee of that Board has endorsed this general cultural preservation effort.
Donations should be to Payee: CUAGP
Notation is made: CCC&G Cultural Preservation Fund (All donations through this site automatically conform to these requirements. Thank you)
HOW YOU CAN HELP TODAY
1) Please GIVE what you can. No donation is too small. All tax-deductible.
2) SIGN our petition https://www.change.org/p/doug-ducey-save-the-phoenix-chinese-cultural-center
3) EMAIL or SHARE this page - https://www.gofundme.com/share/facebook/saving-phoenix-chinatown - to your family and friends.
A new owner plans to destroy the Phoenix Chinese Cultural Center unless we stop them! We can...and we must!
True North Companies is planning to remove all features connected with Chinese culture and history from the exterior of the buildings. They want to create another standard "modern" office building in a city where millions of square feet of office space was just created last year. We don't need more office space, we need our history, we need culture.
We are fighting hard, gathering for demonstrations and a vigil; we have launched an extensive social-media campaign, petitioned the City Council and other authorities to help preserve the Chinese Cultural Center. We have sought legal advice, as well. This is a very costly process, as we need to pay for various professional services. Our legal bills and other costs are mounting and we need to be prepared for whatever battles are forthcoming as we fight to preserve the Cultural Center.
Located on 44th Street and Van Buren, the Chinese Cultural Center and Garden was constructed twenty years ago. It is a unique asset for the City of Phoenix as it was designed as a whole. We do not intend to allow Big Business to destroy it. When built, expert advise on architecture and features were obtained from China along with specialized natural and man-made materials direct from China. Moreover, Chinese traditional artisans using techniques both time-honored and now largely lost with modern industrial production were by special privilege brought to Phoenix to install and create the site. As an example of the tedious and specialized work entailed in the project, the main structure roofing, with upturned eaves, uitlized 1 million tiles, a scale unparalleled in most of America.
The monumental statuary, the steles, and other stonework were similarly sourced in China from a site which is now a national preserve and unavailable. The "Garden of Harmony" is modelled upon features many centuries old from numerous sites that are equally emblamatic and evocative. The Cultural Center and Garden at their creation in 1997 definetly symbolizes good will between the peoples of the United States and China.
Particularly in Arizona and Phoenix, the Cultural Center and Garden is not only an irreplaceble icon but has been and could be again a vibrant heart of commerce, cuisine and cultural activities. For most of its entire existence, this has been and will continue to be true.
America prides itself as a melting pot of many peoples from all over the world. This tradition from the Founding of the Nation should guide both the new owner and the City of Phoenix to act in the best interest of both present and future Arizonans and Americans.
We pledge to you to fight for the preservation of this jewel, the Phoenix Chinese Cultural Center and Garden. This is a battle worth fighting, and one we will win with your help.
Please donate now and share this link and page on social- media.
We appreciate your support and we will keep you posted of our fight to save the Chinese Cultural Center, and save Arizona history!
CUAGP by Special Resolution of the Executive Committee of that Board has endorsed this general cultural preservation effort.
Donations should be to Payee: CUAGP
Notation is made: CCC&G Cultural Preservation Fund (All donations through this site automatically conform to these requirements. Thank you)
HOW YOU CAN HELP TODAY
1) Please GIVE what you can. No donation is too small. All tax-deductible.
2) SIGN our petition https://www.change.org/p/doug-ducey-save-the-phoenix-chinese-cultural-center
3) EMAIL or SHARE this page - https://www.gofundme.com/share/facebook/saving-phoenix-chinatown - to your family and friends.
Organizer
Raymond Tang
Organizer
Phoenix, AZ
Chinese United Association of Greater Phoenix
Beneficiary