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Chinatown’s arch has fallen — not down, but into noticeable disrepair.
“Oh, shoot,” said restaurant operator Peter So, chair of the Somerset Chinatown Business Improvement Area, during an inspection of the city’s most elaborate gateway on Tuesday.
He had just spied a small section of stone tail knocked off a kneeling mythical creature at the base of the arch. It looked to be the work of vandals. “I hadn’t seen that before,” he added, though his eatery, So Good, is only steps away.
From a distance, on a bright morning, the arch soars vividly across Somerset Street West, just west of Bronson Avenue, as it has since the unveiling in 2010. It is an exquisite achievement, taking at least 20 years of dreaming, an international exchange, a twinning with Beijing, about $1 million in actual funds and piles more in contributed labour.
(At least 25 craftsmen were sent from China, with three ship containers of materials, and they spent months chiselling, moulding, carving and later painting the 100-tonne structure. Not to mention a two-month street closure.)
But seven years of weather, the odd mischief maker and the usual urban grind have taken their toll.
The paint peeling off the two red pillars is largely de-glossed and fading. In January, an allegedly impaired driver managed to plow into a massive decorative lion at the base of the arch. The custom-made feline was toppled and the pedestal was chipped. They now sit in two pieces on the sidewalk, both with frayed edges, with the lion looking the “wrong” way.
The signature arch in Chinatown is falling apart, including this broken tail on a mythical creature at its base.
More seriously perhaps, the lower centre beam that crosses Somerset is flaking paint and concrete, opening up a thin line of pebbled cement that looks as though it will only grow wider.
“Whatever you see here, it’s all cosmetic,” said So, 64, who came to Canada in 1971. He said the arch is inspected annually to ensure it is structurally sound, which it is.
It is the matter of coatings, however, that need attention — and this is not a layer or two of Sherwin-Williams. Some of the paint contains gold leaf and many of the ornamental peaks and spires are covered in 17 coats of special paint, in correct symbolic colours. There is also a good deal of ceramic on the upper reaches.
(Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney said the damage to the paint on the pillars and beam is traced to a period of persistent rain during the painting phase. The city, she said, is working closely with the BIA to find the right fix.)
The Chinatown Arch in Ottawa on Tuesday April 18, 2017.
The BIA, which has about 100 members, is now looking at options.
So said it is exploring the possibility of wrapping the red pillars in a flexible metal or foil-type material that can be spray painted — thus avoiding any more damage to the interior concrete. The organization has also reached out to a masonry expert connected to the Parliament Hill restoration to address the chips on the pedestal and lion.
It is likely those will be fixed this summer.
As to any flaking paint on the arch itself — it consists of nine elaborate “roof” sections all connected — So said the BIA is in regular contact with the crafts team back in China.
Ideally, he’d like to have them perform an initial inspection, then return with a team that will fix or replace pieces and possibly repaint the whole thing. But he doesn’t imagine it will happen before 2019 and took a quick guess at a cost in the $500,000 range.
It could involve another street closure, he added, and the BIA wouldn’t dare attempt this during Ottawa’s 150th celebrations.
“You have to be really, really careful in how you plan these things.”
The Chinese crafts team, too, is much in demand, he said, so their work needs to be scheduled months or years ahead of time. The BIA had to provide room and board for the crew in 2010 and spent considerable time showing them about Eastern Canada over a six-month period.
So said many of us don’t realize how rare and elaborate this kind of arch is, probably unique in North America in terms of size and intricacy. So said he has received some complaints about the state of the archway.
It is done in the northern royal style and contains five symbolic coins of different precious metals (gold, silver, copper, iron and tin) and five threads of different colours (red, yellow, blue, white and black).
The timing of the unveiling coincided with the 40th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations between Canada and the People’s Republic of China.
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
“Oh, shoot,” said restaurant operator Peter So, chair of the Somerset Chinatown Business Improvement Area, during an inspection of the city’s most elaborate gateway on Tuesday.
He had just spied a small section of stone tail knocked off a kneeling mythical creature at the base of the arch. It looked to be the work of vandals. “I hadn’t seen that before,” he added, though his eatery, So Good, is only steps away.
From a distance, on a bright morning, the arch soars vividly across Somerset Street West, just west of Bronson Avenue, as it has since the unveiling in 2010. It is an exquisite achievement, taking at least 20 years of dreaming, an international exchange, a twinning with Beijing, about $1 million in actual funds and piles more in contributed labour.
(At least 25 craftsmen were sent from China, with three ship containers of materials, and they spent months chiselling, moulding, carving and later painting the 100-tonne structure. Not to mention a two-month street closure.)
But seven years of weather, the odd mischief maker and the usual urban grind have taken their toll.
The paint peeling off the two red pillars is largely de-glossed and fading. In January, an allegedly impaired driver managed to plow into a massive decorative lion at the base of the arch. The custom-made feline was toppled and the pedestal was chipped. They now sit in two pieces on the sidewalk, both with frayed edges, with the lion looking the “wrong” way.
The signature arch in Chinatown is falling apart, including this broken tail on a mythical creature at its base.
More seriously perhaps, the lower centre beam that crosses Somerset is flaking paint and concrete, opening up a thin line of pebbled cement that looks as though it will only grow wider.
“Whatever you see here, it’s all cosmetic,” said So, 64, who came to Canada in 1971. He said the arch is inspected annually to ensure it is structurally sound, which it is.
It is the matter of coatings, however, that need attention — and this is not a layer or two of Sherwin-Williams. Some of the paint contains gold leaf and many of the ornamental peaks and spires are covered in 17 coats of special paint, in correct symbolic colours. There is also a good deal of ceramic on the upper reaches.
(Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney said the damage to the paint on the pillars and beam is traced to a period of persistent rain during the painting phase. The city, she said, is working closely with the BIA to find the right fix.)
The Chinatown Arch in Ottawa on Tuesday April 18, 2017.
The BIA, which has about 100 members, is now looking at options.
So said it is exploring the possibility of wrapping the red pillars in a flexible metal or foil-type material that can be spray painted — thus avoiding any more damage to the interior concrete. The organization has also reached out to a masonry expert connected to the Parliament Hill restoration to address the chips on the pedestal and lion.
It is likely those will be fixed this summer.
As to any flaking paint on the arch itself — it consists of nine elaborate “roof” sections all connected — So said the BIA is in regular contact with the crafts team back in China.
Ideally, he’d like to have them perform an initial inspection, then return with a team that will fix or replace pieces and possibly repaint the whole thing. But he doesn’t imagine it will happen before 2019 and took a quick guess at a cost in the $500,000 range.
It could involve another street closure, he added, and the BIA wouldn’t dare attempt this during Ottawa’s 150th celebrations.
“You have to be really, really careful in how you plan these things.”
The Chinese crafts team, too, is much in demand, he said, so their work needs to be scheduled months or years ahead of time. The BIA had to provide room and board for the crew in 2010 and spent considerable time showing them about Eastern Canada over a six-month period.
So said many of us don’t realize how rare and elaborate this kind of arch is, probably unique in North America in terms of size and intricacy. So said he has received some complaints about the state of the archway.
It is done in the northern royal style and contains five symbolic coins of different precious metals (gold, silver, copper, iron and tin) and five threads of different colours (red, yellow, blue, white and black).
The timing of the unveiling coincided with the 40th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations between Canada and the People’s Republic of China.
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email kegan@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn
查看原文...
