Vancouver Heritage Foundation accepting donations for Kogawa House

A Donations page for Kogawa House has now been set up through the Vancouver Heritage Foundation.
http://www.vancouverheritagefoundation.org/Kogawa.html

A short story about the history of the house and the efforts to save it is listed

Vancouver Heritage Foundation
844 West Hastings Street Vancouver BC V6C 1C8

604-264-9642
email mail@vancouverheritagefoundation.org

Joy Kogawa House Facing Bulldozer - Press Release Oct 27, 2005


The residence at 1450 West 64th Avenue, former childhood home of author Joy Kogawa, now marked for demolition plans. - photo by Don Montgomery

- For immediate release    -

 “Joy Kogawa House Facing Bulldozer”

October 28, 2005

Only a week after writers from across Canada and around the world were celebrated at the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival, the childhood home of Vancouver- born Joy Kogawa, one of Canada’s most eminent authors, is in increased danger of being bulldozed into the ground.

Gerry McGeough, Senior Heritage Planner in the City of Vancouver Planning Department, has confirmed that the current owner of Kogawa's former childhood home on 1450 West 64th Avenue has drawn up architectural plans for the redevelopment of the site including demolition of the Kogawa house. Processing a development and demolition application by the City takes less than four weeks.

McGeough will recommend to the Vancouver City Council Standing Committee on Planning and Environment on November 3 that City Council recognize the heritage value of the Marpole property and issue a 120-day demolition delay order as allowed by section 591 of the City Charter. The meeting is open to the public. The Save Kogawa House Committee, formed when the home first went up for sale in September of 2003, will also ask the Planning and Environment Committee to urge City Council to pass the 120-day demolition delay order.

The Committee has contacted professional writers organizations across Canada to support the drive to save Kogawa's childhood home as a Vancouver literary landmark and convert it into a major writers-in-residence centre for Canadian and international writers. This support from eight associations, representing several thousand professional writers, will be released shortly. For Kogawa, the 1450 West 64th Avenue property became a symbol of lost hope and happiness after she, at age six, and her family were removed from their home in 1942 as part of the forced evacuations and internment of over 20,000 Japanese-Canadians during World War II. The house is featured in the award-winning novel Obasan and the children’s story Naomi's Road, which premiered on September 30 as Vancouver Opera's second-ever commissioned original work and is now touring to 140 schools and community centres throughout B.C.

“The destruction of the Kogawa home would be a great loss of cultural heritage for Vancouver, for British Columbia, and for Canada,” Margaret Atwood declared at the Vancouver International Writers Festival on October 13. “Although Canada scored high on the recent all-nations report card, it scored low on culture, history and heritage. Why destroy more of this precious asset?”

The Save Kogawa House Committee reactivated when it was alerted on September 21st that a demolition application was expected.  Two years ago the committee tried to raise funds to buy the house and persuade the federal government to protect the cultural landmark, but became dormant when the owner made no plans for demolition at the time.  The committee seeks to preserve the Kogawa House as a Canadian and international writer’s centre, similar to the Pierre Berton House in Dawson City and the Margaret Laurence House in Neepawa, for the cultural heritage of future generations.

“There is only one literary monument erected in Vancouver for a Canadian author," says BC Bookworld publisher Alan Twigg, "It is the Pauline Johnson memorial in Stanley Park.” Johnson died in 1913.

Kogawa is the recipient of many awards including the Order of Canada in 1986. Roy Miki, Simon Fraser University Professor and 2003 Governor General's Award Winner for Poetry, has called Obasan the most important literary work of the past 30 years for understanding Canadian history.  In 2005 Obasan was selected by the Vancouver Public Library for its One Book One Vancouver program, encouraging all Vancouverites to read this single book. 

Mayor Larry Campbell and members of Vancouver City Council will plant a cutting from Joy Kogawa’s cherry tree from the childhood home featured in Obasan in the garden of City Hall November 1 to commemorate the experience of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Paul Whitney, City Librarian of the Vancouver Public Library, James Wright, General Director of Vancouver Opera, and Joy Kogawa will also participate. The public tree planting ceremony takes place in the City Hall garden, north of City Hall, 453 West 12th Avenue.

If City Council passes the demolition delay order, the Save Kogawa House Committee will raise funds to purchase the property.  The Vancouver Heritage Foundation has set up a fund to save the Kogawa house and will issue charitable receipts for donations. All donations to the Joy Kogawa house rescue receive a tax receipt for the full amount of the donation. Cheques should be made out to “Vancouver Heritage Foundation” and mailed to the Vancouver Heritage Foundation, 844 West Hastings St., Vancouver, B.C. V6C 1C8. Donors are asked to indicate on the cheque memo line: “Save Kogawa House.” Donations can also be made on-line on the Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s website
http://www.vancouverheritagefoundation.org/kogawa.html
 
If the Vancouver City Council does not vote to delay demolition, the house may be demolished within weeks.  It then becomes the latest casualty of Vancouver's short-term memory in a climate where arts, history and culture are left to fend for themselves. 

To prevent demolition, the Save the Kogawa House Committee is seeking community support and volunteers in Vancouver and across Canada in its drive to convert the house into a major writers centre. The Committee is also asking supporters to email the Vancouver City Council at mayorandcouncil@vancouver.ca urging Mayor Campbell and City Councillors to prevent the demolition of the Kogawa House.

 

--30--



Photo credits:

The attached Dan Toulgoet Kogawa House_1519 Vancouver Courier 9 28 05.jpg of Joy Kogawa in front of her childhood home can be used by both non-profit organizations and commercial media. The photo credit must be: “Photo-Dan Toulgoet, Vancouver Courier”.
The photographer can be contacted at 604-630 3514 or at dtoulgoet@vancourier.com
The Don Montgomery 3.jpg can be used by non-profit organizations. The photo credit must be “Photo: © 2005 Don Montgomery”. Commercial media are asked to contact Don Montgomery at 604-878 6888 or don@asiancanadian.net


For further information contact:

Ann-Marie Metten, Vancouver Co-ordinator, Save Kogawa House Committee 
604-263 6586; ametten@telus.net

Todd Wong, Vancouver Committee spokesperson
604-240-7090; toddwcan@yahoo.com
 
Anton Wagner, Committee Chair
416-863-1209; awagner@yorku.ca

Gerry McGeough, Senior Heritage Planner, Planning Department, City of  Vancouver
604-873-7091; gerry.mcgeough@vancouver.ca

Diane Switzer, Executive Director, Vancouver Heritage Foundation 604-264-9642; diane@vancouverheritagefoundation.org

Nikkei Voice asks Japanese Canadian community for support to preserve Kogawa House


Joy Kogawa at Kogawa House, the house she left at age 6, never to return. 

Katherine Mika Fukuma, the English Editor of the Nikkei Voice, has come out strongly in favor of the effort to save the Joy Kogawa House in her October 2005 "Editor's File" column. The Nikkei Voice is the national forum for Japanese Canadians.

Katherine's editorial, "The JC community is again in need of your support," is nearly half a page long. It reads in part:

"As you may have already read in the Globe and Mail (Sept.24) or in the Vancouver Courier (Sept. 28), the house of Obasan (Joy Kogawa homestead) is currently in danger of being demolished. According to sources, the owner of the Marpole, West 64th Avenue house--in which Joy Kogawa lived until her family was relocated to Slocan Valley when she was six years old--applied to the city of Vancouver for a demolition permit in late-September.

The news came as a disappointment and a shock despite the fact that the city of Vancouver will be planting a cutting of the cherry tree from the backyard of the Marpole home on city hall grounds this fall as a way to commemorate the experience of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.

Other joyous news for Kogawa this year included her book Obasan chosen as the Vancouver Public Library's One Book, One Vancouver selection for 2005, as well as the premiere of the Vancouver Opera's World Premiere production of the opera for young audiences and their family, Naomi's Road. The Vancouver Opera presented four public performances before the production embarks on a province-wide tour, visiting more than 140 schools and community venues throughout B.C. between October 25 and May 2006.  

Furthermore, there was discussion at the September 19, 2005 meeting of the City of Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation of the possibility of naming the new Park for Marpole (at West 72nd Avenue and Osler Street and Selkirk Street) "Joy Kogawa Park." This park will be a neighbourhood park, with a design element representing a Japanese theme to reflect the history of the area.

Now, wouldn't all these events create more than enough meaning to declare the property, or the house as a historical landmark? If it is impossible to purchase the entire property, at least the house itself should be saved, before it is too late.

The house represents more than just a literary icon's childhood home. It is packed with a historical essence of the kind of lifestyle of the prewar Japanese Canadians and may be the last of its kind. Once it is declared a historical landmark much can be done. (Of course, it shouldn't end up as just a museum!)

I surely hope that Vancouver councillors are smarter than those in Toronto...Preserve our nikkei history and heritage and help educate our future generations."



Nikkei Voice, 6 Garamound Court, Toronto, ON, M3C 1Z5
Phone: 416-386-0287
FAX: 416-386-0136
E-Mail: nikkei1@bellnetc.ca

Publisher: Frank Moritsugu
Owner: Nikkei Research and Education Project of Ontario
Circulation: 3000  Subscription: $35.00  Frequency: 10/year

Yusuke Tanaka, Japanese Editor/Advertising Manager
E-Mail: nikvoice@interlog.com

Free Performance of Naomi's Road
Vancouver Opera Touring Ensemble

Mon Oct 24th, 2005
3:30 pm
Vancouver Public Library
Central Branch, Alice Mackay Room

Admission is free and all are welcome.

This performance has come about as a result of the ongoing teacher's strike so the library apologizes for the short notice. They ask people to please pass this information on to anyone whom you think may be interested in attended, including day camp groups.

I talked with soprano Jessica Cheung, who plays Naomi,  tonight at the Vancouver Opera  reception/cast party following the openining night of Turandot.  Jessica says that the children in the schools are really recieving the opera well.

In particular, the children really respond to "the bully" scene, and when Naomi is trying to decide whether or not to give Mitzi her doll back.  Jessica reports that she is really enjoying the performances and is looking forward to taking the production to Vancouver Island next week.

For further information contact:

Barbara Edwards
Community Relations Librarian
Vancouver Public Library
programs@vpl.ca
604.331.4041

20 Reasons to save Joy Kogawa's childhood home from impending demolition. The house is on 64th Avenue in Vancouver, just off Granville St. The family was removed from the house in February 1942 due to the War Measures Act. "National security" was the reason given for the internment of Japanese-Canadians, and the government of Canada sold their property and possessions without the owner's permission.   more »

Kogawa House: Can we save the house? Can we move the house?

Lots of developments happening...

Monday, we met with Vancouver Heritage Foundation, and discussed strategies to save the house, and create a way for the present owner to donate the house to the VFH.  To preserve  the house at its present location will mean a purchase price of around $700,000.  To move the house will mean $50,000 + building a $200,000 foundation later.  What is cheaper?

The owner has not been willing to sell, so trying to save the house from demolition and move it seems the best idea.  There is a proposed park that will commemorate the Japanese Canadian community at Selkirk and 72nd Ave.

To avoid the demolition of the house, we have planned to go to City Council to ask for a stay of demolition, due to the Heritage quality of the house.
Initially that would have been Oct 20 - but the demolition application has not been submitted yet.

But yesterday, the owner may have had a change of heart...  Gerry McGeough, senior planner for City of Vancouver, may have brokered a deal where the owner will delay demolition for 120 days, allowing us to raise funds to purchase the house. 

This is great news.  The house may not be destroyed yet... and it gives us time to raise monies.

Because of these latest developments, Joy will not be interviewed for CBC Radio Early Edition on Thursday morning. CBC wants to wait and see what happens next!

A Writers Literary Landmark and Writers-in-Residence Centre for Vancouver

The following is a message from Anton Wagner, of the Save the Kogawa Homestead Committee:

Dear Todd,

Thank you for the great article "How important is saving Kogawa House? What other literary landmarks are in Vancouver?" on the http://www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com website.

I totally agree with Alan Twigg's suggestion to Ann-Marie that we also focus our campaign to save Joy's former home on Margaret Atwood's recognition of Vancouver's cultural desert of literary landmarks. As Alan writes in his entry on Pauline Johnson in the BC Bookworld Author Bank, "The Pauline
Johnson memorial in Stanley Park, above Third Beach, is the only literary monument erected in Vancouver for a Canadian writer during the 20th century."

Johnson died in 1913.

Other provinces and much smaller towns have established and supported such literary landmarks and a few writers-in-residence programs:

The Manitoba Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism maintains the Margaret Laurence House in Neepawa as the Manitoba Provincial Heritage Site No. 25
http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/hrb/prov/p025.html

In St. Boniface the non-profit corporation La Maison Gabrielle Roy Inc. operates the Gabrielle Roy House as a museum for the Franco-Manitoban writer with project grants from the federal, provincial and municipal governments and corporate, foundation and individual donor support. To date 105 women and 37 men have donated $1,000 each to the House.
http://www.maisongabrielleroy.mb.ca

In Eastend, Saskatchewan, the Eastend Arts Council owns and operates the Wallace Stegner House as a writer/artist's residence. Rent is $250 a month, including all utilities. The furnished house, built in 1916, contains a kitchen, dining, living room, study, two bedrooms and a bath and can accommodate two adults and one child. The house is funded in part by the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation, the Writers' Development Trust, provincial, federal and civic government grants, and individual donations.
http://www.dinocountry.com/stegner_house.html

In Dawson City, the Yukon Arts Council and the Klondike Visitor's Association and the Dawson City Libraries Association operate the Berton House Writer's Residence Retreat. Initiated by Pierre Burton in his former boyhood home, the Writer's Residence Retreat enables professional Canadian writers to
write in the remote Northern community free of charge.

One item of great interest in your
http://users.yknet.yk.ca/dcpages/bertonhouse/story.html link is the last April 2001 item on that page, "Canada Council to support Berton House writers." It reports a grant of $100,000 from the Canada Council over a three-year period to the Berton House Writer's Retreat Society to enable four Canadian or
international writers to be in residence in the house for three months each, with a monthly fellowship of $2,000 and travel cost assistance. This would be a great precendent for us in seeking financial operating assistance from the Canada Council.

But again, no such writing centre and literary landmark exists in
Vancouver.The Federation of BC Writers operates a small writing cabin, gifted by George Fetherling, the Horsefly Manor Writers Retreat on Quesnel Lake in the Cariboo.
http://www.bcwriters.com/horsefly/

Lorna Crozier has informed us that the Haig-Brown House in Campbell River, operated by the non-profit conservation organization, the Haig-Brown Institute, has just opened its doors to writers, with Don McKay being the first writer-in-residence. http://www.haigbrowninstitute.org
 
Vancouver, one of Canada's most dynamic cities and our gateway to the East, needs a writers-in-residence centre as has been proposed for the Joy Kogawa House so that Canadian and international writers can observe and write about the unique evolving multi and intercultural society that is developing
in Canada.

Anton Wagner

How important is saving Kogawa House?  What other literary landmarks are in Vancouver?

Alan Twigg, author and publisher of BC Book World, says that Vancouver only really has one literary landmark, and that one was controversial and created under protest - the gravesite of poet Pauline Johnson. Ann-Marie Metten, was talking with the author of First Invaders: the literary origins of British Columbia and Aborginality which detail the first writings about British Columbia. 

If we can save and preserve the Kogawa Homestead, then we have the real life equivalent of the fictional Anne of Green Gables House.  http://greengables.tripod.com/locations.html
With the new Vancouver Opera creation of Naomi's Road, then we now have the West Coast equivalent of the ever popular Anne of Green Gables musical.

The Save the Kogawa Homestead Committee would like to preserve the former Kogawa House as a writer's retreat, where the house could serve as a temporary home for visiting writers, immersing themselves in multicultural Vancouver, while providing a historic landmark to the thousands of Japanese Canadians who once made up the fishing community of Marpole neighborhood, but were uprooted from their homes, branded as enemy aliens, and interened at re-location camps away from the Pacific Coast.

There are few historic houses preserved in BC.  Our history is still young, and many of our residents are immigrants with little knowledge of BC's history.

Only a small handful of the homes of Canada's greatest Canadians or writers are preserved or acknowledged.  Pierre Berton was born in a cottage in Dawson City, Yukon.  Berton spent $50,000 to buy the house to donate it to the Dawson City community where it is now a historic landmark known as Berton House.
http://users.yknet.yk.ca/dcpages/bertonhouse/story.html

Other BC homes have been turned into historic landmarks or museums.  But none that I know of are by writers, nor homes that were confiscated from Japanese Canadians during World War 2.  In addition to becoming a writers' retreat, Kogawa House would also represent the tragedy of the upheaval and internment of the Japanese-Canadian community and how we overcome our prejudices by recognizing it and turning it into an important community landmark.

Haig-Brown House Education Centre
2250 Campbell River Road,
Campbell River
B.C. V9W 4N7
http://www.britishcolumbia.com/attractions/?id=67

Rodde House Preservation Society
1415 Barclay Street
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada
V6G 1J6
(604) 684-7040
http://www.roeddehouse.org/

Emily Carr House
207 Government Street
Victoria
B.C. V8V 2K3
Telephone: (250) 383-5843
Fax: (250) 356-7796
http://www.britishcolumbia.com/attractions/?id=63

Irving House
302 Royal Avenue,
New Westminster
(604) 521-7656
URL: http://www.city.new-westminster.bc.ca/cityhall/museum/
http://www.discovervancouver.com/articles/irving-house.asp

Margaret Atwood supports saving Kogawa Homestead

“The destruction of the Kogawa home would be a great loss of cultural heritage for Vancouver, for British Columbia, and for Canada. Although Canada scored high on the recent all-nations report card, it scored low on culture, history and heritage. Why destroy more of this precious asset?”

- Margaret Atwood

I visited the Kogawa Homestead site on 64th Avenue tonight...
 
There are the tell tale signs that plans for development are planned.  There are paint markings on the sidewalk and street marked "W" and "S"- I assume for Water and Sewer.

The house is quaint looking with a white picket fence on 64th Ave.  There are houses next to it  and across the street that are new.  I am surprised that this little house is still standing, when the many of the same era houses have long since been bulldozed in favor of newer houses.

But, an application for demolition is expected soon.  An inquiry by an architectural firm to City Hall was made two weeks ago, prompting the revitalization of the "Save the Kogawa Homestead" committee.

This simple house, is the only "publicly known" house that was confiscated by the Canadian Government during WW2, after Canadian born citizens of Japanese descent were sent to internment camps as "enemy aliens."  Last week, I talked with Reiko at the Japanese Canadian National Museum, and she said this was the only house that is identifed with known cultural value.  There are many houses that were confiscated and later sold at cheap prices as the "owners" were not expected to return. 

But this house is special.  Joy Kogawa wrote about it in her novel Obasan, and subsequent  children's version Naomi's Road.  She left the house at age 6, to be re-located at a camp in Slocan BC.  And forever after, the house represented a time of happiness, and the best home she lived in, as the family was forced to live in chicken coops, shacks, and other housing.  Joy became an active part of the Redress for Japanese-Canadian Internees.  She recieved the Order of Canada. 

Obasan became one of the most celebrated Canadian novels, and was ranked the 11th most influential Canadian novel by Quill and Quire.  Roy Miki calls it the most significant Canadian novel of the last 20 years.  The Vancouver Opera, commissioned a opera based on Naomi's Road.  Obasan was chosen as the 2005 selection for Vancouver Public Library's award winning One Book One Vancouver program.

Please sign the petition to preserve the Kogawa Homestead. Click on the white banner - this will forward you to an on-line petition.

Donations can be made in care of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation

Naomi's Road: Pulls the heart in all the right places and directions

Vancouver Opera's first Opera in the Schools Commission is superb!

Two children are left in the care of an aunt, when their father is sent away from them, after their mother leaves the country to look after her sick grandmother.  And the "holiday" they are told they have just boarded a train for is actually going to be a re-location camp for the next 3 years of their life.  They will be called "enemy aliens," called racial slurs, and they may never see their real home again. 

This is all great stuff for school children to learn about bullying, Canadian history, the importance of family, and how to make friends.  Oh... and it has been turned into an opera.

Vancouver Opera has turned to the children's version of the award winning novel Obasan by Joy Kogawa for it's second-ever original commission, designed for their Vancouver Opera in Schools program.  Naomi's Road revolves around the upheaval of a 9 year old girl's life, as she and her older brother are removed from their home in Vancouver, and sent to a re-location camp in Slocan, located in BC's Interior.

Limited by a 45-minute time frame, the creative team of composer Ramona Leungen with librettist Ann Hodges were challenged to bring alive a dark time in Canada's history, but make it palatable and relatable for 21st century school children.  They have succeeded in spades!  Naomi's Road conveys the story without oversimplifying it.  The music is acessible and emotional, with soaring melodies and lovely ensemble work.

I attended the Saturday afternoon performance following the previous evening's World Premiere.  A question period followed the short but lively performance during which adults in the audience wanted the opera extended by an hour, and children wanted to know how the actors could change costumes so fast playing multiple roles.

Young soprano Jessica Cheung stands out.  Her projection portraying a 9 year old is amazing.  She is completely believable, with little nuances that enhance her character.  When I remarked to Jessica after the performance about "another costume change" into very chic and hip street clothes, she remarked "So people don't think I really am a little girl.

Composer Ramona Luengen, says of Jessica, "We were so thrilled to find her.  She brings so much vitality and spark.  We just wanted to keep her.  Where else are you going to find a twenty year old that can play a 10 year old... and sing?!?!"

Sam Chung does a good turn as Stephen, Naomi's older brother.  He initially plays a shy reserved child who becomes emotionally volatile as he discovers that the "holiday" really isn't a holiday and becomes cynical about many things related to the internment.  Sam does a good job evolving Stephen's emotional maturity compressing three years into 45 minutes.

Gina Oh and Sung Taek Chung both take on multiple roles, playing Mother, Obasan & Mitzi and Father, Rough Lock Bill, Trainmaster and Bully, respectively.  They create characters complete and separate from the roles they shed with a change of clothes.  Seeing Gina go from loving mother to reserved aunt to childish Mitzi within 30 minutes is remarkable.  I particularly liked how Sung played doting father, then later reappeared as Rough Lock Bill - a First Nations Character in Slocan who befriends the children, gives Stephen a flute and helps demonstrate racial acceptance and unconditional friendship.

During the Q&A, a question was asked about the role played by Joy Kogawa, author of Naomi's Road children's book.  Luengen described attending a reading by Kogawa 2 years ago, in the Kogawa childhood home (now threatened by demolition - see www.kogawa.homestead.com), which she describes as magical.  Anne Hodges said that Joy gave them complete reign over the story and never said to take or leave anything out, nor questioned what they did.  "She was like a benevolent and peaceful spirit that permeated what we did, and always seemed to be in town whenever we needed her."

When I told music director Leslie Uyeda that I had tears in my eyes when the children were in the train scene, she replied, "You're the third person who has said that... that scene is so emotionally charged, especially when they are separated from their father.  It is so iconographic.  It's in all the pictures," she commented about the photographs showing Japanese-Canadians at the train station waving to family members being sent to different camps, and used on the cover of the book Obasan.

If this is only the 2nd-ever commission by the Vancouver Opera (the first was 1994's The Architect), I can only eagerly anticipate the next one, and hope that it will be soon.  Maybe they will pick another Vancouver-based story such as the Komagata Maru incident that affected the South Asian community, or an issue from Chinese-Canadian history, similar to the opera Iron Road, that is yet to show in Vancouver.

Kudos for the Vancouver Opera's Naomi's Road.  I foresee a long life for it, touring BC's schools and beyond.  Glad I wasn't sitting on a gymnasium floor for 45 minutes... but I think the kids will definitely enjoy it!

Please sign the petition to preserve the Kogawa Homestead. Click on the white banner - this will forward you to an on-line petition.
Donations can be made in care of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation