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- March 7, 2010: One Restaurant, Two Lion Dances, Four Families.
- March 5, 2010: Chinatown Branch Library: a Community's Aspiration
- March 5, 2010: Free Kung Fu Classes (March 13th Saturday 6:30am at the Chinatown Gate. We will travel the Whole Chinatown. Costumes encouraged.)
- February 28, 2010: Gee Oak Tin Association Banquet
- February 24, 2010: Outsiders Robbing Elderly Chinese
- February 24, 2010: Boston.com: 'Snake' gets Chinese buzzing in Boston
- February 23, 2010: Chinatown Parade
- February 16, 2010: CCBA New Year's Banquet
- February 15, 2010: Lions and Tigers and Hong Baos.
- February 9, 2010: ABCD Head Start Dim Sum Lion dance and Kung Fu
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Chinatown Library Update
Lisette Le talks at the Chinatown Coalition meeting
The Boston Chinatown Blog had reported on a public meeting to build a Chinatown branch library. At that public meeting held in Sept 18, 2007, community participants voiced opinions from program usage to possible site locations. At the February 2008 Chinatown Coalition (TCC) meeting, Lisette Le from the Chinatown Library Committee gave an update on the progress of the work.
In 2007, Mayor Menino and the City of Boston provided seed funds to conduct a feasibility study for a branch library in Chinatown. Through a selection process, the firm Miller, Dyer, and Spears (MDS) was selected as the consultant. Since the public meeting in September, 4 sites have been narrowed down from a list of 10. The goal of the Library Committee is to get a space that would allow for 20,000 sq/ft. of usable space and preferably in one floor.
The following are 4 POSSIBLE sites for a Chinatown Library: Parcel A, Parcel 12, Tufts Parking Lot, and the Chinatown Gate/Adjacent Parcel. (These 4 sites MAY NOT be the final site.)
1. Parcel A - Land Swap Deal: Current site is occupied by the Josiah Quincy Upper School and a basketball court. The library is actually NOT proposed on this exact location because adjacent to the site is the Boston Chinese Evangelical Church. BCEC proposed 10 years ago to the City with a request to swap their existing site for Parcel A. The swap is for an equal square footage of 10,000sq/ft. If a Chinatown Library were to be built on Parcel A, the actual siting would be where the current BCEC church stands now.
Parcel A - Site of current Quincy Upper School
Diagram of possibleChinatown library built on Parcel A
Boston Chinese Evangelical Church, which has proposed to the City to swap their existing site for Parcel A
2. Parcel 12 - Parking Lot Adjacent to former Don Bosco and Double Tree Inn, Currently, the Boston Arts Academy based in the Fenway neighborhood has made started proposals to acquire the land and to build a school there. The site may also be used for housing.
P12 Diagram of potential site
3. Tufts Parking Lot - Tyler/Hudson Street
Site is owned by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. Currently, use as a parking lot for Tufts Medical Center.
Tufts Parking Lot Diagram
4. Chinatown Gate/Adjacent Parcels
Empty lot adjacent to the Chinatown Gate and possible combined usage of the small park next to the Gate.
Chinatown Gate/Adjacent Parcels Diagram
March 12, 2008 at 11:02 am
Update: City Councilor Bill Linehan came to Chinatown to talk about the library. These were his comments: 1) Speed up process in selecting final site; 2) Prioritize within the community the need for a library; 3) He will ask for commitments from people to set-aside funding for the library.
The Councilor pointed specifically to July 1st as the deadline for the City’s budget. If the community can decide on a final site, this will give an idea of how much capital will be needed to be earmarked from the budget. If Chinatown misses the July 1st deadline, the library will have to wait another year for funding. Linehan also emphasized that Chinatown has many needs, but he wants to make sure that everyone in the community, or in his words, “5 different people with different interests”, can all agreed on the need for a library. There is only so much money and Chinatown needs to prioritize, is it going to be housing, open space, or library?
This was the first time I met Councilor Linehan. Came away with a good impression. Guy was straightforward and laid out where he stood and what he could do.