Future of Edmonton’s Harbin Gate

Edmonton’s mayor is in Harbin, China, this week as part of a tourism and economic trip.

Harbin is Edmonton’s sister city — a relationship that used to have a physical reminder in our Chinatown, with the Harbin Friendship Gate, which was removed by the city for LRT construction in 2017.

“The memory was bitter because we saw that the community was not consulted when the LRT line came through and destroyed one of the significant landmarks in the area,” said Sandy Pon, Chair for the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative Society.

Pon says the original gate was fundraised and built by the Chinese community. It was an important monument for Chinese-Edmontonians. She is hopeful that plans for a replacement gate are closer to becoming a reality with construction scheduled to begin this year, wrapping up in 2027.

“We know that the city will come through and the community will come through together to build a brand new chapter,” said Pon.

According to the city, a completely new gate will be built beside Canada Place, at the entrance to Edmonton’s south Chinatown. Around 8.7 million in taxpayer dollars have already been set aside, with construction expected to wrap up in 2027, a decade after the old gate was removed.

“It will create vibrancy. It creates vitality for this area, especially the area of Chinatown, where we want to create the atmosphere in this destination for tourists, businesses, and people to live,” said Pon.

A spokesperson for the City of Edmonton says the entirely new gate will include art supplied by Harbin, as well as local artists, saying, “The new gate is intended to create a sense of connectedness in cultural experience, contribute to the vibrancy of the surrounding area and serve as a defining boundary for the city’s old and new Chinatowns, in conjunction with the gate of happy arrival at 107A Avenue.”

CityNews reached out to the mayor, who has not responded at this time.

As for Pon, she recognizes this is a long time coming. By the time the new gate opens, the old gate will have sat in storage for a decade.

“I think it’s a little bit of over consultation because the gates are fairly typical in terms of style and the elements that are incorporated into a gate. It has meaning, so you don’t really deviate too much from it,” said Pon.

As for the original Harbin Gate that was gifted to Edmonton in 1987, the City says it is still consulting on plans to bring it back to the community.