Nine years after it was removed, Edmonton’s Chinatown community will get a new gate, replacing the Harbin Gate that was dismantled to make way for the construction of the Valley Line LRT. 

The new gate will sit on 97th Street, between Jasper Avenue and 101A Avenue. Construction will begin on March 9 and should be completed next year. 

The City of Edmonton has budgeted $8.7 million for the project. 

The removal of the Harbin Gate was disappointing for many in the Chinatown community, said Joanna Wong, a director with the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative Society of Edmonton in an interview with Edmonton AM on March 3.

“The gate itself is really more than just an entrance and decorative piece,” Wong said.

“It represents a Chinese community that has helped build and shaped Edmonton, and also means that Chinatown matters — not just in the past but going forward in the future.”

The original gate opened in 1987 to commemorate the twinning of Edmonton with the City of Harbin in China as a representation of the friendship and cultural exchange between the two cities. 

Gate construction experiencing delays 

Since the gate’s dismantling in 2017, there have been several delays in efforts to build a new one.

In 2023, the city initially approved $6 million to design and build the new gate. But, global supply chain disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as recent tariffs on steel products, meant that the city had to scale back the design for budget constraints.  

During the design phase, many members of the Chinatown community flagged concerns over proposed materials.

Ward O-day’min Coun. Anne Stevenson told CBC that in 2024, council proposed a shift away from using clay materials in order to “rein in costs as much as possible.”

“That was really flagged as a concern by the community,” Stevenson said. “They wanted to see … inclusion of those materials.” 

According to Stevenson, new designs mean that the Chinatown Gate will primarily be made of polystyrene, a synthetic polymer material used in other buildings around the city. 

“They’ve shown to have really great longevity in our climate and they have the added advantage of being quite a bit lighter than the clay tiles, which provides a reduction in the amount of structural steel that has to be included.” 

Traditional clay tiles will also be used on the gate. The city has found a supplier that provides a 75-year warranty, said Stevenson, allowing Edmonton to mitigate safety risks associated with clay tiles seen in other cities. 

Clay tiles are more fragile than other materials, particularly in colder climates, where they can fall or break, putting the longevity of the gate at risk.   

Even with the inclusion of clay, Wong said some members of the Chinatown community are still concerned. 

“We have still yet to see and touch and feel the actual materials that they’re proposing on the gate,” Wong said. “So we want to make sure that material aligns with cultural integrity [and] identity.”

Fate of the original gate

As construction begins on the new gate, Stevenson still has questions about what will happen to the original gate, which remains in a city storage yard in north Edmonton. 

“Every time I take the train past Coliseum Station, it’s sad to see the original gate so forlorn in the service yard,” she said. 

Work is ongoing to determine where Harbin Gate will go, Stevenson said. 

Wong said there is an opportunity to reuse some of the materials — such as structural panels on the bottom of the gate — in the construction of the new one. 

“I think it’s very important to preserve a little bit of the history that’s there of the friendship of Harbin.”  

In a Thursday statement to CBC News, the city said some elements of the Harbin Gate will be used on the new gate, including the plaque and bell. 

“The new gate design balances cultural significance and architectural tradition with modern materials and durability, incorporating both refurbished elements from the original gate and innovative features to ensure long-term performance in Edmonton’s cold climate.”