Sien Lok seeking extension to park along Bow River

John Dong has been a lifelong proud and passionate supporter of Calgary’s Chinatown, following in the footsteps of and wishing to please his parents, who have been part of the community since moving from Vancouver where their families took part in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Dong has been involved in many Chinatown organizations and, despite his busy business life, has been elected the new president of the Sien Lok Society of Calgary.

Sien Lok, which translates to “happiness through good works,” was incorporated 50 years ago in response to a real-estate proposal that would have threatened Chinatown’s very existence.

Since then, it has continued to build a better understanding between people of Chinese ancestry and all other citizens through the promotion of the Chinese language, philosophies and culture.

One of its significant undertakings was the development of Sien Lok Park along the banks of the Bow River that crosses over Riverfront Avenue at First Street SW. Dong is keen to tackle a further extension to the park on land that formerly housed the Indian Friendship Centre to the east of the Chinese Cultural Centre.

The goal is to convert what today is an eyesore in Chinatown to a paved or grassed area that could be used as a summer stage for entertainment, with installed lighting that would be continued throughout the park over to Centre Street Bridge, providing a safe and pleasant walking space.

Dong figures — thanks to an offer of a free lease on the land — the cost to complete would be between $50,000 and $80,000, which he believes could be raised through donations.

Sien Lok has an active and dedicated board, a solid volunteer core, and numerous community partners and supporters who are already planning the 50th anniversary celebration gala dinner to be held at The Regency Palace restaurant on Feb. 2.

No question it will be a sellout as the board has decided to limit the numbers to 500 and reduce the ticket cost to $50, even though the meal, entertainment and prizes will again be first class.

Dong ’s involvement in Chinatown also includes serving as board member of the Chinatown Business Improvement Area, director of the Dragon Boat committee, recent director of the Asian Heritage Foundation and longtime director of the Hong Kong Canada Business Association, and is volunteer chair of its Feb. 22 Chinese New Year Gala.

A keen squash player, Dong is also the major shareholder of the Bow Valley Club that has been serving members at its downtown location for more than 35 years.

All of this adds to Dong ’s many other business activities.

He left city hall in 1993 from his position as controller in the finance department to open one of the city’s first private liquor stores at the corner of 17th Avenue and 11th Street S.W.

Royal Liquor Merchants grew to 10 locations but Dong has reduced that to two stores — on 11th Avenue S.W. and Elbow Drive — to focus more of his time on real estate.

Along with his medical doctor brother, Dennis, they specialize in buying, rezoning and selling land.

Their most recent transaction was to sell the Calgary Co-op 14.5 acres of their land in Silverado, in addition to the 80 acres sold to Cardell Homes.

The Dong brothers are also building a 93-unit condominium complex in Kelowna’s current hot residential market. They have a lot on the go.

NOTES:

Howard Silver of The Metropolitan Conference Centre is chairing the National Cannabis and Hemp Conference at the Grey Eagle Resort from Nov. 18 to 21. The target market is the Indigenous community, and featured speakers are for the most part First Nations lawyers, doctors and business leaders who are already involved in cannabis. Following the educational panels, on Nov. 21 chiefs will take a tour of grow ops, retail and medical dispensaries.

The funeral of Bill Wilson took place Wednesday, honouring a man respected as one of this city’s highly regarded builders and developers. I was privileged to work alongside Bill when he was pressman and later production manager at The Alberta newspaper. He later left that industry to start another entrepreneurial career in real estate, pulling together a partnership that built and owned the Port O’Call Inn and then on to complete many successful joint ventures.