Remnants of “Chinatown” Provide Unsightly Blot On Dunedin Landscape

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26628, 26 November 1947, Page 6

Remnants of “Chinatown” Provide Unsightly Blot On Dunedin Landscape

Dunedin’s unsightly remnants of “ Chinatown,” in Stafford street, have long been looked upon with disfavour by residents who use this route to the residential areas on the hill. Now, with the centenary of the city only a few months distant, there has come an outcry for the removal of what is considered an eyesore in an area that was once one of the busiest and most important parts of the city. Unfortunately there appear to be difficulties in the way of such an improvement that cannot be overcome at the present time.

About two years ago the area between R. Powley and Company’s factory and Sew Hoy’s warehouse was purchased by Powley and Co., Ltd., as a site for a modern factory. Although the firm wishes to extend its premises and add an imposing building to the Stafford street frontage, it is unable to proceed with its plans because of the building restrictions and' the difficulty of evicting tenants. Officials of the firm stated yesterday that even though they could not obtain a building permit for their new factory'they would willingly demolish the buildings and tidy up the area if

gated iron buildings are rusty and dilapidated. Nearly all the paint has peeled off the facades but Chinese names are still visible, showing the use to which the buildings were once put. The upper building was once a gunsmith’s shop but in more recent years it was used as a Chinese eating house. It is still occupied by the Chinese. The lower building has drifted out of Chinese hands and is now used as a temporary bottle store. It gives the appearance of having been a church building, for it is designed like a hall with arched windows, but there is no

they could get rid of the tenants. It was not possible to obtain alternative accommodation for the Chinese who occupied the main building but, they stated, if anyone could suggest a solution to this problem they would immediately pull down the buildings and erect a suitable fence. As it was, there was nothing to be done ,io improve the appearance of the buildings which were literally falling to pieces. While it is obvious that little improvement can be made to the present buildings, they do provide an unsightly picture in a comparatively busy street. The wooden and corru-

evidence available that it was ever a mission hall. A rusty,, tumbledown fence of corrugated iron and straggling elderberry trees separate the two buildings. This untidy array completes a corner of the city that should be improved and would be improved if conditions permitted. As it is, memories of.the Chinatown which was established in Stafford and Carroll streets in the days of the gold rushes, and which thrived until the early years of this century, linger on % in these untidy buildings that stand in the way of cleanliness and good order.