opened in 1987<\/a> to commemorate the twinning of Edmonton with the City of Harbin in China as a representation of the friendship and cultural exchange between the two cities.\u00a0<\/p>\nGate construction experiencing delays\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the gate\u2019s dismantling in 2017, there have been several delays in efforts to build a new one.<\/p>\n
In 2023, the city initially approved $6 million to design and build the new gate. But, global supply chain disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as recent tariffs on steel products, meant that the city had to scale back the design for budget constraints.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
During the design phase, many members of the Chinatown community flagged concerns over proposed materials.<\/p>\n
Ward O-day\u2019min Coun. Anne Stevenson told CBC that in 2024, council proposed a shift away from using clay materials in order to \u201crein in costs as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was really flagged as a concern by the community,\u201d Stevenson said. \u201cThey wanted to see \u2026 inclusion of those materials.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to Stevenson, new designs mean that the Chinatown Gate will primarily be made of polystyrene, a synthetic polymer material used in other buildings around the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’ve shown to have really great longevity in our climate and they have the added advantage of being quite a bit lighter than the clay tiles, which provides a reduction in the amount of structural steel that has to be included.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Traditional clay tiles will also be used on the gate. The city has found a supplier that provides a 75-year warranty, said Stevenson, allowing Edmonton to mitigate safety risks associated with clay tiles seen in other cities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Clay tiles are more fragile than other materials, particularly in colder climates, where they can fall or break, putting the longevity of the gate at risk.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even with the inclusion of clay, Wong said some members of the Chinatown community are still concerned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have still yet to see and touch and feel the actual materials that they’re proposing on the gate,\u201d Wong said. \u201cSo we want to make sure that material aligns with cultural integrity [and] identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fate of the original gate<\/p>\n
As construction begins on the new gate, Stevenson still has questions about what will happen to the original gate, which remains in a city storage yard in north Edmonton.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time I take the train past Coliseum Station, it’s sad to see the original gate so forlorn in the service yard,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Work is ongoing to determine where Harbin Gate will go, Stevenson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wong said there is an opportunity to reuse some of the materials \u2014 such as structural panels on the bottom of the gate \u2014 in the construction of the new one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it’s very important to preserve a little bit of the history that\u2019s there of the friendship of Harbin.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a Thursday statement to CBC News, the city said some elements of the Harbin Gate will be used on the new gate, including the plaque and bell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new gate design balances cultural significance and architectural tradition with modern materials and durability, incorporating both refurbished elements from the original gate and innovative features to ensure long-term performance in Edmonton\u2019s cold climate.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 4 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,23752],"class_list":{"0":"post-518364","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edmonton","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-edmonton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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