Description du lieu patrimonial

The Kuo Min Tang (Chinese National League) Building is a two-storey timber frame and double bonded brick structure built between 1909 and 1910, located on one city lot on Second Avenue South in the historic "Chinatown" district of Lethbridge.

Valeur patrimoniale

The heritage value of the Kuo Min Tang (Chinese National League) Building lies in its role as a social and cultural centre for Lethbridge's Chinese community.

The building originally housed a restaurant, but as early as 1913 it was being used as a lodge hall. In 1915 it became the official headquarters of the new Lethbridge branch of the Kuo Min Tang (Chinese National League), an organization in both China and Canada advocating republican government in China. The building served as a social club and gathering place for the Chinese community and provided access to Chinese literature, theatre, music, and games as well as meeting space. The League also paid for a school that provided Chinese language education in the rear of the building until the 1970s.

Civic bylaws in many western Canadian cities created segregated areas known as "Chinatowns" by restricting areas of Chinese development. Political rivals the Kuo Min Tang and the Chinese Free Masons were located across the street from each other, heightening the conflict between the organizations. The Kuo Min Tang Building and the 1924 Chinese Freemasons Building are among the few surviving examples of Lethbridge's historic Chinatown.

Source: Alberta Culture and Community Spirit, Historic Resources Management Branch (File: Des. 1840)

Éléments caractéristiques

The character-defining elements of the Kuo Min Tang (Chinese National League) Building include:
- form, scale and massing;
- timber frame and double bonded red brick with a concrete frost wall;
- flat roof with unusual curved parapet shape that is reminiscent of Chinese forms
- upper storey fenestration pattern;
- recessed front entry and front steps;
- painted Chinese characters on the front facade and painted sign on the East elevation;
- hardwood floors and tongue and groove wainscoting;
- cornice moldings and pressed tin ceiling;
- artifacts in the main floor meeting hall, including painted frieze, painted screen, commemorative plates, floor vents and photographs, flags and memorabilia.