CHINATOWN GATEWAY COALITION |
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Mission and Purpose
Formation of the Chinatown Gateway CoalitionThe Chinatown Gateway Coalition is named after a 20-acre area consisting of terra firma and air rights and is adjacent east of Chinatown. The coalition is a membership-based group that meets monthly on the 3rd Thursday of each month in Chinatown. Not to be confused with the Chinatown Gate near Beach Street and the Surface Artery, the Chinatown Gateway area is south of Kneeland Street and east of Hudson Street. The land shares borders with Chinatown, Leather District, South Station, and the I-90 Mass Turnpike. The site was available for potential development after the completion of the Big Dig. The name "Chinatown Gateway" was monikered when the Chinatown Master Plan of 1990 identified and zoned the area as the "Chinatown Gateway". The Chinatown Gateway Coalition was formed in 2005 to advocate for development on the 20-acre site and advance the Chinatown community's vision for the area. Several founding members of the coalition had initially participated in the Phase I South Bay Planning Study as part of a 17-member Task Force convened by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. During this South Bay Planning Study process, the City combined a small section of the South Station Economic Development Area with the Chinatown Gateway and renamed the area as the South Bay Special Study Area. The renaming of the 20-acre area has created confusion with two competing names: Chinatown Gateway and South Bay Special Study Area. During the Phase I South Bay Planning Study, Chinatown representatives on the 17-member Task Force felt there was a need to have a clearly defined and unified community vision for developing the Chinatown Gateway/South Bay area. While these Task Force members continued to partcipate in the planning process, they also joined with other community members not on the Task Force to form Chinatown Gateway Coalition. The purpose of the coalition was to identify the community's priorities and formulate a community vision for developing the Chinatown Gateway/South Bay area. In 2006, the Chinatown Gateway Coalition received funding for a 1-year grant to conduct a community charrette. The Gateway charrettes were a series of meetings led by professional consultants that asked residents and community members for ideas on how to develop the Chinatown Gateway/South Bay area. A consultant firm was hired by the coalition to help lead the charrettes. A series of 3 meetings were held in July 2006. After the charrettes, the coalition presented their findings to 9 community agencies in Chinatown for further feedback and fine-tuning. An estimated 200 community members participated throughout the entire charrette process. A report will be released in Fall of 2008. After the completion of the Chinatown Gateway/South Bay charrettes, the coalition broadened the scope of planning to include all of Chinatown. The coalition is currently working on the Chinatown Master Plan 2010. The master plan, which will be a document to guide the growth and development of Chinatown, will incorporate elements and research from the Chinatown Gateway/South Bay charrettes. For more information, contact the coalition coordinator at info@chinatowngateway.org. 2008 STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS Lydia Lowe Jeremy Liu Henry Yee Marie Moy Lawrence Cheng, AIA, LEED Zenobia Lai Wing-kay Leung Debbie Ho Chong Chow Wesley Wong Stephanie Fan Doug Brugge, PhD, MS STAFF Kye Liang May Lui Alex Zhang |
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