Lim Sai Hor Association Building
The Lim Sai Hor Association Building is a historic building in the Chinatown of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is the headquarters of the eponymous Lim Sai Hor Kow Mock Benevolent Association and was an early hub for overseas Chinese hoping to reconnect with their families in China. The building was added to the Canadian Register of Historic Places on January 14, 2003.
History
The Lim Sai Hor Association Building was built in 1903 and originally housed the Vancouver headquarters of the Chinese Empire Reform Association, an overseas Chinese monarchist organization. The CERA's main objective was to advocate the transformation of the Qing dynasty into a constitutional monarchy, but it was known in Chinatown primarily for its efforts to connect residents with their families and communities back in China. The CERA's influence persisted, but was weakened, following the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912. Two years later, in 1914, the prolific Chinese Canadian architect W. H. Chow redesigned the building's Carrall Street frontage, giving it its present mix-influenced design.The building was purchased and renovated by the Lim Sai Hor Kow Mock Benevolent Association, a clan association, in 1945–46. The choice of an evergreen repaint reflected the meaning of the surname Lim, which translates to "forest". The association's goal was to transform the building into a meeting place of not only the Lims of Chinatown, but of the wider local community.
On January 14, 2003, the building was listed number 2809 in the Canadian Register of Historic Places, in recognition of its contributions to the early Chinese-Canadian community in Vancouver.