Hale Pai
Pacific American-News Journal
`Aukake - August 1996 Volume 2 Issue 8
Honoring History, Shaping Destiny
Something extraordinary is about to happen in Seattle. The
Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation &
Development Authority (SCIDPDA) invites residents and friends of
the International District (ID) to join in celebrating
groundbreaking for the International District Village Square, a
unique community-based center for multi-cultural,
intergenerational and collaborative programs and services.
The long-awaited festivities will include both traditional and
modern entertainment from diverse cultures, including a
Polynesian blessing ceremony. There will be a lunch-time feast
accompanied by the acapella harmonies of Urban Rhythms
Performance Choir. Bob Santos, HUD Secretary's Representative for
the Northwest and Alaska, long-time ID activist and unofficial
“mayor” of the ID, will be the master of ceremonies.
Situated on an abandoned bus barn site in an historically
underdeveloped neighborhood, the ID Village Square is a $19.5
million mixed-use development that will provide new retail space,
75 housing units for low-income seniors and expanded facilities
for five community-based social service agencies. When the
project is completed in late 1997, the ID Village Square will
offer multi-lingual and culturally appropriate child care, job
training, counseling, meals for seniors, and health care, all
under one roof. SCIDPDA estimates that the Village Square will
serve 27,000 people from 45 different ethnic groups annually,
making the Village Square the largest multi-ethnic development
project in the Pacific Northwest.
For more than 30 years, ID activists have fought to preserve
the identity and culture of their neighborhood while forces such
as the Kingdome and I-5 threatened to destroy the residential
character of the neighborhood. Sharon Tomiko Santos, gifts
manager for the Village Square, explains the importance of the
project to the neighborhood: “The Village Square symbolizes
our determination to shape our destiny, to strengthen our
community for generations.”
For more information, or to volunteer for this event, please
contact Amanda McCloskey at 624-8929.
Send mail to halepai@punawelewele.com
with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1996 Hale Pai Pacific American-News Journal
Last modified: February 28, 1998
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