Wear and tear leaves Chinatown's arch in need of a makeover
The gateway to Ottawa's Chinatown needs some serious touch-ups, and the organization representing neighbourhood businesses is trying to narrow down solutions to fix it.
The red paint on the Chinatown arch's two massive columns has cracked and chipped, and the vibrant blue paint on the bottom edges of the arch has chipped off.
People who live in the neighbourhood have noticed the Somerset Street West landmark has lost some of its lustre.
"It's kind of disheartening. It was really bright and colourful before, and I remember coming here as a kid and it was really nice to look at," said Janelle Rowsell.
"The paint definitely needs to be redone. The colours are definitely fading. It's not as nice as it used to be," said Leone Besner.
Artisans and builders from China came to Ottawa in 2010 to construct and chisel the elaborate, colourful arch. Since it was unveiled later that year, it's been widely seen as the crown jewel of Chinatown.
So the Chinatown Business Improvement Area is currently examining its options to repair and restore the arch, and it's looking at local solutions.
"We have a few solutions, and right now we have picked one that I think will help. But we cannot say it until the board meeting in September," said Chinatown BIA chair Peter So.
So estimates repairs will cost between $20,000 and $30,000. While a Chinese crew built the arch, the BIA will hire a Canadian contractor to do these immediate fixes.
'It will be like fresh again'
"They're not major. Just a little bit of pieces there, pieces there," said So. "Wear and tear is normal. So we have money, we should fix it as beautiful as original."
The BIA is looking into what caused the arch to fall into disrepair, and So believes extreme Canadian weather like freezing rain and frigid wind is to blame for the wear.
By the time it's 10 years old, a team from Beijing will come and assess the structure to see if a retrofit is necessary, according to So, but for now he says it's structurally "perfect."
The BIA has reserve funds to pay for the current repairs, and it's setting money aside in case any major work comes up. So wants to assure residents "it will be like fresh again."
"If they want to have something that statuesque in our neighbourhood, they better maintain it, so it maintains the pride and the reflection of Chinatown that we want to support," said Besner.
