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Sam Kee Building

Coordinates: 49°16′49.53″N 123°6′16.94″W / 49.2804250°N 123.1047056°W / 49.2804250; -123.1047056
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sam Kee Building
三記號大樓
The Sam Kee Building in 2024
Map
Alternative namesJack Chow Building[1]
General information
Address8 West Pender Street
Town or cityVancouver, British Columbia
CountryCanada
Coordinates49°16′49.53″N 123°6′16.94″W / 49.2804250°N 123.1047056°W / 49.2804250; -123.1047056
Named forSam Kee Company
Year(s) built1913; 111 years ago (1913)
CostCA$8,000
OwnerJack Chow Insurance (since 1985)
Dimensions
Other dimensions
  • Ground floor depth: 4 ft 11 in (1.50 m)
  • Upper floor depth: 6 ft (1.8 m)
  • Lot area: 571.8 sq ft (53.12 m2)
Technical details
Floor count2 (+ 1 basement)
Design and construction
Architect(s)
  • Kennerly Bryan
  • William C. F. Gillam
Architecture firmBryan & Gillam
DesignatedJanuary 14, 2003
Reference no.2814
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese三記號大樓
Simplified Chinese三记号大楼
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSān Jìhào Dàlóu
Wade–GilesSan1 Chi-4hao4 Ta4-lou2
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingSaam1 Gei3hou6 Daai6lau4*2
other Yue
TaishaneseLham1 Gi1hau5 Ai5leu3

The Sam Kee Building (Chinese: 三記號大樓), also known as the Jack Chow Building, is a two-storey commercial building in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, located near the entrance to the city's Chinatown. It is noted for its narrow depth, which varies by floor. The ground floor is 4 feet 11 inches (1.50 m) wide, while the upper floor spans 6 feet (1.8 m) because of its overhanging bay windows. Additionally, a basement extends under the sidewalk adjacent to the storefront. This discrepancy has led to a dispute with the Skinny Building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, over which commercial building is more narrow, as the Skinny Building has a consistent depth of 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m). Nonetheless, the Sam Kee Building is recognized by Guinness World Records as the "narrowest commercial building in the world" and by Ripley's Believe It or Not! as the "world's thinnest building".

The building was constructed as a spite house in 1913, in defiance of Vancouver City Council's decision to expropriate without compensation a lot belonging to local business magnate Chang Toy, also known as "Sam Kee". Located at the corner of Carrall Street and Pender Street, the depth of the original lot was reduced from roughly 30 feet (9.1 m) to 6 feet (1.8 m) for the widening of Pender. Chang bet a business associate that he could construct a building on the land that remained, and the Sam Kee Building was completed a year later. It originally consisted of a ground floor housing retail shops, an upper floor housing residential and organizational units, and a basement containing public baths.

Local businessman Jack Chow purchased the Sam Kee Building in 1985 and restored the property the following year. The building has since become a tourist attraction, although an insurance business still operates on the ground floor. It is considered a cultural heritage site by the municipal government and is listed in the Canadian Register of Historic Places.

Architecture

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Side view of the Sam Kee Building from Carrall Street. The Jack Chow Insurance sign is wider than the building.[2]

The Sam Kee Building is a steel-framed, two-storey building with an unusually narrow depth.[1][3][4] Its ground-floor depth measures 4 feet 11 inches (1.50 m).[5] Its upper-floor depth is wider at 6 feet (1.8 m) due to its overhanging bay windows, which were characteristic of many buildings in Chinatown at the time of its construction, in 1913.[3][5] The building also has a basement that extends 10 feet (3.0 m) under the sidewalk of Pender Street.[5] The three floors are connected by glass staircases, which the municipal government disapproves of because they are a potential fire hazard.[4]

Local historians have described the Sam Kee Building as a "spite house", a building constructed or modified to anger neighbours or other parties with a stake in the land the building is on.[1][6] The municipal government charged the building's owner – the Sam Kee Company and later Jack Chow Insurance – annual encroachment fees for the airspace used by the protruding windows and the under-street area used by the basement.[7] In 1998, when the fee for the windows was waived by Vancouver City Council, the fees were CA$260 for the windows and CA$2,500 for the basement.[7] Rod Chow, son of Jack Chow, described the decision to waive the window fee as "the moral support of [city] council" being given to the building and the hopeful end of an "85-year feud".[7]

History

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Background and prelude

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Vancouver's Chinatown was home to the largest Chinese community in Canada during the early 1900s, with 3,559 residents listed in the 1911 national census.[8] The Asiatic Exclusion League, an all-European lobbyist group opposed to immigration from Asia to Canada and the United States, established a branch in Vancouver in 1907, with the goal of expelling Asians from the city.[9] In 1912, the league successfully petitioned Vancouver City Council to widen Pender Street, the main street of Chinatown at the time, in order to render Chinese-owned properties unsuitable for commercial use.[9][10] One such property, located at the corner of Carrall Street and Pender Street, was owned by the influential local businessman Chang Toy (陳才; 1857–1921), known in the European community as "Sam Kee" (三記).[1][3][11][12]

1917 map showing the dimensions of the lot before and after expropriation. The remaining property is labelled "BAL OF 1".

Chang purchased the original, standard-sized lot for his primary business, the Sam Kee Company, in 1903.[13] The original lot was a trapezoid measuring 30 by 88.71 by 30.94 by 96.04 feet (9.14 m × 27.04 m × 9.43 m × 29.27 m).[14] Its southern and eastern sides were slightly longer than its northern and western sides, respectively.[14] By 1907, the Sam Kee Company had become one of the four main firms operating in Chinatown, running a large-scale import-export business that involved members of the Anglo-European business establishment.[11]

In 1912, Vancouver City Council expropriated most of the lot without compensating Chang. The width of the lot was reduced from roughly 30 feet (9.1 m) to 6 feet (1.8 m), making conventional commercial use of the remaining frontage impractical.[3][13] However, Chang bet a business associate that he could nonetheless construct a building on what remained of his lot.[1]

Construction and early years

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The Sam Kee Building in 1937

Chang hired architects Kennerly Bryan and William C. F. Gillam to design a building for his narrow lot.[3][9][15] On March 27, 1913, a building permit was issued for a building "6.19 feet in width, 96.04 feet in length".[16] The Sam Kee Building was completed later that year and reportedly cost CA$8,000.[17]

For half a century, the Sam Kee Building saw mixed commercial-residential use. Retail shops were located on the ground floor, while the upper floor housed units for residential and organizational use.[3] The basement contained a public baths.[18]

Acquisition by Jack Chow

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Local businessman Jack Wing Chow (周永職; 1930–2021) purchased the Sam Kee Building in 1985.[1][2][19] Chow hired architect Soren Rasmussen to restore the building, and renovations were completed in 1986.[18] Reinforced glass blocks were built into the sidewalk in front of the building, with the approval of Vancouver City Council.[7] During nighttime, lights in the basement illuminate the sidewalk above, marking the entrance to Chinatown.[4][7] Chow later received numerous heritage awards for his restoration initiative.[20]

Current use

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At present, the ground floor is used for insurance sales by Jack Chow Insurance, while the upper floor and basement are used primarily for tourism purposes. Most of the decorations and furniture inside the building are either "skinny or mini" to match the building's self-given title of "skinniest building in the world". Rod Chow, son of Jack Chow, offers guided tours of the building in addition to his insurance services.[4]

In 2013, the building was given a million-dollar renovation. The project was financed by Jack Chow's retirement funds and a CA$100,000 grant from the municipal government.[21]

A glass window wicket was installed in 2016, allowing customers to be served on the sidewalk in front of the building and doubling the building's business capacity.[1]

Recognition

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The rival Skinny Building in 2015

The Sam Kee Building holds the Guinness World Record for "the narrowest commercial building in the world".[22] Ripley's Believe it or Not!, meanwhile, recognizes it as the "world's thinnest building".[23] The ownership of these titles has been challenged by the owners of the Skinny Building in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The Skinny Building has a depth of 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m) on all its floors, while the depth of the Sam Kee Building varies by floor, with the lower floor's depth measuring 4 feet 11 inches (1.50 m) but the upper floor's measuring 6 feet (1.8 m).[5][23]

The municipal government formally recognized the Sam Kee Building as a cultural heritage site on January 14, 2003.[3] It is listed number 2814 in the Canadian Register of Historic Places.[3] Vancouver City Council's Chinatown Legacy Stewardship Group described the Sam Kee Building as a "key part of Chinatown's cultural heritage" and Jack Chow Insurance as a "legacy business".[1]

The Sam Kee Building was one of two winners of the People's Choice Award for the 2017 Vancouver Heritage Awards, the other being the Mah Society Building. The award's description of the Sam Kee Building is as follows:[24]

Fully restored and revitalized, the thinnest building in the world, and a Chinatown landmark and architectural marvel, its rehabilitation was part of the celebration of its centennial. This included its distinctive gold embellished columns, the prominent '1913' on its parapet, its continuous bay-windows, its block-long illuminated glass sidewalk, and iconic twinkling neon sign for the public to enjoy.

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sam Kee Building.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Moliere, Ashley (May 25, 2021). "Built on a Bet: An inside Look at the World's Narrowest Building". CBC News.
  2. ^ a b Mackie, John (February 26, 2021). "Chinatown fixture Jack Chow dies at age 90". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Sam Kee Building". Canadian Register of Historic Places. Parks Canada.
  4. ^ a b c d Amundson, Christian; Li, Kevin (May 25, 2021). This building owner in Vancouver's Chinatown says despite pandemic, he's here to stay (YouTube). Vancouver, British Columbia: CBC News.
  5. ^ a b c d "Chinatown Architectural Walk". City of Vancouver.
  6. ^ Kitai, David (June 22, 2018). "Spite Houses are a Testament to Humanity's Capacity for Genius and Evil". Vancouver Magazine. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Skinny building beats city hall (Sam Kee Building)". Daily Commercial News and Construction Record. 71 (244). December 17, 1998. ProQuest 224244100.
  8. ^ "Vancouver Chinatown". Simon Fraser University. David See Chai Lam Centre for International Communication. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c Mah, Stephanie (May 4, 2023). "Sam Kee Building". Canada's History. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
  10. ^ "Chinese Benevolent Association Building". Canadian Register of Historic Places. Parks Canada. ... Pender Street [was] the 'main street' of Vancouver's historic Chinatown district.
  11. ^ a b Stanley, Timothy J. "CHANG TOY (Chen Cai) (Chan Doe Gee (Chen Daozhi); Chan Chang-Jin; Sam Kee (San Ji))". Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. XV (1921–1930). University of Toronto.
  12. ^ 敢於說不的華埠富商陳才 [Chang Toy, a wealthy Chinatown businessman who dared to say no]. Sing Tao Canada (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). October 13, 2021.
  13. ^ a b Hern, Frances (November 15, 2011). Yip Sang: and the First Chinese Canadians. Heritage House Publishing Co. pp. 83–84. ISBN 978-1-926936-96-3.
  14. ^ a b Excerpt of "O. G. T. Part of D. L's 196 of 541", a map of Downtown Vancouver published by Vancouver City Council on September 29, 1917.
  15. ^ Hill, Robert G. (2009). "Bryan, Kennerly". Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada. Archived from the original on July 17, 2009. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
  16. ^ Davis, Chuck (November 4, 1979). "Obscure Vancouverana: The Sam Kee Building". The Province. p. 8.
  17. ^ "Queerest building in the whole Dominion". Vancouver Daily World. March 27, 1913. p. 23.
  18. ^ a b Benivolski, Xenia (February 1, 2017). "Vancouver Chinatown". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  19. ^ 擁全球最窄建築物 周永職辭世享年90 [The narrowest building in the world – Jack Wing Chow dies at the age of 90]. Sing Tao Canada (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). February 25, 2021.
  20. ^ Ward, Robin (March 11, 1989). "Sam Kee Building Series: Robin Ward's Vancouver". Vancouver Sun (3 ed.). ProQuest 243585983. Archived from the original on June 16, 2024. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
  21. ^ "Expect a little magic at world's narrowest building". Vancouver Is Awesome. December 4, 2013. Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  22. ^ Chong, Kevin (June 26, 2023). "Chinatown⁠—The Neon-Lit History of a Resurgent Neighbourhood". Montecristo Magazine. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  23. ^ a b Mellon, Steve (May 30, 2004). "Here: In Downtown". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. F9. Archived from the original on February 5, 2010.
  24. ^ "2017 Heritage Award winners". City of Vancouver. Archived from the original on June 16, 2024. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
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