Chinatown House Rancho Cucamonga

latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-chinatown-house-endangered-20130618,0,6057025.story

Hello Everyone:

Rancho Cucamonga Chinatown House
dailymail.co.uk

Welcome to the new week.  The weekend provided me with some great blog post ideas including one courtesy of "Mad Men."  Hey who new that Don Draper was a preservationist?  Today, I'd like to give a big shout out to my tribe at the USC School of Architecture Master of Heritage Conservation Program (arch.usc.edu/program/master-heritage-conservation).  In particular I'd like to say a big hello to Rosalind Sagara and Christine Park and acknowledge their work on the Chinatown House in Rancho Cucamonga, California.  They, along withe the Chinatown House Preservation Coalition are working to raise funds and awareness for one of the last surviving examples of Chinese worker housing.  The building has fallen into a terrible state of disrepair and in  need of over $1 million in order to restore and retrofit the site.  Last week it was included in the National Historic Preservation Trust's annual list of endangered historic sites (http://www.preservationnation.org).

Current view of the Chinatown House
latimes.com

In the 1880s, the Chinese workers who had been brought over to work on the Transcontinental Railroad settled in the area near Rancho Cucamonga near the present day intersection of San Bernardino Road and Archibald Avenue.  The workers found employment in the agricultural industry, digging irrigation ditches, and making fireworks.  Hundreds of these immigrants lived in a small part of the town where the present-day intersection of Klusman and San Bernardino Avenues are.  Almost one hundred years ago, fire burned down the wooden houses where the workers lived.  The wooden houses were replaced by three two-story clay block structures, which held

Chinese workers c. 19th century
heritage.com

dozens of workers each.  Only one of these clay-block structures remains.  In 1975, the California State Office of Historic Preservation (http://www.ohp.ca.gov) listed the Rancho Cucamonga Chinatown Site as a historic resource number P458.  The general store/worker housing remains one of the last tangible links to the Chinese community in the town.  The Chinatown House was built from local materials in the vernacular style in 1919 and designated a city landmark in 1985.  Currently, the building faces demolition.

The Chinatown House property is currently owned by the Cucamonga Valley Water District.  The Water District was recently issued a notice by the city to correct structural issues in the house.  However, instead of moving forward to correct perceived structural issues, the city and Water District moved forward on plans to take down the building.  I'm going to withhold judgement on this because the sometimes the cost to restore and retrofit a historic site can be very prohibitive and not worth it.  Nevertheless, this decision brought together a group of local residents and preservationists concerned with the potential loss of this site.  Now before anyone thinks that just because something is designated means it can't be touched or taken down, let correct this assumption.  This not entirely true.  Strange as it sounds, it is true especially if there is an issue of human safety, as is the case here.  In response, the City Planning Commission decided that an Environmental Impact Report was necessary prior to approving demolition plans.  The Cucamonga Valley Water District assistant general manager Jo Lynne Russo-Pereyra stated, "It has been in ill disrepair for many years."  Ms. Russo-Pereyra also pointed out that the second floor had been condemned over fifty years ago.  However, the small silver lining in these is demolition plans have been put on hold while the water district and the city work together to come up with a plan to secure the site in order to keep out trespassers.  Sadly, the Coalition to Save the Chinatown House has not been assured that the building will be protected.   

Chinatown House
nationalgeographic.com

Interior of Chinatown House
nationalgeographic.com

Chinatown House Menu (date unknown)
dreats.com

The Chinatown House Preservation Coalition, chaired by Eugene Moy an urban planner and vice president of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, called the site one of the last of its kind.  The organization is made up of several historical organizations in the region who banded together to apply for designation.  However, a designation application is not an guarantee of protection and is a highly competitive process.  Designation does heighten awareness for the need to protect the site and help with fund raising.  The group hopes to turn the building into an education space dedicated to not only to Chinese American history but also the agricultural industry and expansion of the American West.  In a blog post for the Huffington Post,  Kate Kelly says "the history of the Chinese in America is not very well documented but does the history of slavery but there are similarities." (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-kelly/chinatown-house-a-legacy_b_3475882.html)  In a strange effort to draw a similarity, Ms. Kelly notes that just as the African slaves were vital to the Southern agricultural industry and provided labor for moving goods, the Chinese did the same thing in the West.  Ms. Kelly then quickly adds, "While they technically weren't enslaved, they were overworked and underpaid, often abused, and had little control over their live or their futures."  The problem I have with this assertion is that the African slaves had no choice but to perform the tasks they were given because of the threats to being sold "down river" or worse was always hanging over their heads.  Further, there were laws that prevented the slaves from assembling or obtaining an education whereas the Chinese workers would often gather for meals or bring with them books and other texts.  Once work on the railroad was completed, the workers moved off into the communities where they found employment digging ditches and in the agricultural industry.

In the city of Rancho Cucamonga, there was a very large Chinese community.  According to Mr. Moy, "A very large Chinese community settled in Rancho Cucamonga...It was a beautiful agricultural area byt water was needed here for the farmers to be able to fully cultivate the land."  Mr. Moy goes on to explain that the Chinese thrived in the city and were the first to bring water to the parched region.  Later on, the Chinese went to work in the fields.  The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prevented more Chinese, especially women, from coming to the United States.  Today, more Chinese with professional training are coming to the region.  This means it's even more important to tell the story of their immigrant predecessors.  Without some tangible link, such as the Chinatown House, the history of the Chinese in Rancho Cucamonga is just stories.  While major cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco have thriving and vibrant Chinatowns, smaller communities that were home to Chinese immigrants don't such places.  Therefore without  a physical reminder, it would as if that segment of history is erased.

Map of Route 66
thewanderer.net

The coalition plans for an educational space sounds like a promising idea but would take some time to accomplish.  First, assuming an option to demolition is found, the building would have to undergo serious restoration.  Mr. Moy says that the Coalition would like to modify the building but modifying the building could effect designation.  If the modifications seriously compromise the historic fabric of the building, it could have a negative impact on potential designation.  Second, restoration and adaptive reuse would require a very amount of time and investment in order to bring the building up current code.  The building would benefit from its location just off the Historic Route 66.  Ultimately with proper care and attention, the building can serve as a link between the past, present, and future of the region's Chinese immigrant history.

To sum up, buildings and landscapes can serve as a tangible reminder of a nation's history, good, bad, or indifferent.  With proper care and use, historic sites can serve  as a living history lesson for all time.

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