Advocacy group Filipino BC has announced the location for its proposed community and cultural centre in south Vancouver, with chair RJ Aquino calling it a major milestone toward achieving a decades-old dream.
Aquino says it's been nearly 40 years since the idea for such a centre, and the vision for the project near the intersection of southwest Marine Drive and Cambie Street reflects extensive engagement with community members.
He says the community has expressed desires for a museum and archives component to the centre, an auditorium, a basketball court, a technology and innovation hub, child care and seniors services, among other elements.
Aquino says Filipino BC has partnered with Hungerford Properties, which owns the site, and notes the development would include affordable housing.
He says the site along southwest Marine, which would require rezoning, was selected because of the growing Filipino population, proximity to public transit and the gap in cultural services in the area.
While the centre would provide a permanent home for Filipino cultural services and gatherings, Aquino says it would also serve the broader community.
"Anybody who needs access to all of these services and amenities in this neighbourhood, but which there is a lack of, will have access to it."
Filipino BC has also partnered with South Vancouver Neighbourhood House.
Sunday's announcement came about two months after Vancouver city council passed a motion to direct city staff to prioritize reviewing a separate proposal for a Filipino cultural centre and hotel in a different part of the city.
The motion co-submitted by Mayor Ken Sim and passed in December described the proposal by PortLiving as a dual-tower hotel development spanning two sites near the intersection of Main Street and 3rd Avenue.
In addition to a Filipino Canadian cultural centre, the proposal also includes 500 hotel rooms and residential-style hotel suites, the motion said.
While Aquino had raised concerns about the other project at the time, he said Sunday that Filipino BC is not opposed to another proposed centre.
"We weren't opposed to additional cultural assets. We just wanted to make sure that the community was engaged in an honest and transparent way."
Aquino said Filipino BC has the data to support its proposal. He said the organization will continue to seek feedback from the community, and it has established an endowment fund to help pay for the centre.
"We're in the quiet phase of really doing the fundraising here," he said Sunday.
"We know that it's going to take a significant investment from public and private entities, and we're working tirelessly to just, again, highlight how much of a generational investment this is, the value that it brings to the community."
Such a centre has been a "longstanding dream" for the Filipino community, he said.
The Filipino community and cultural centre has been identified as part of Ottawa's $51-billion Build Canada program, Filipino BC said in a statement.
The group plans to submit a formal zoning application to the City of Vancouver in the coming months, it said.
The Lapu Lapu Day street festival in Vancouver was the site of a vehicle-ramming attack that killed 11 people last April, and Aquino said the resilience centres set up in its aftermath underscored the need for a place the Filipino community can call its own.
"I mean, not just in reaction to an event, but to really build community, grow the bonds that tie us and highlight and celebrate what it means to be a part of Canada as a Filipino immigrant."
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
