The search is on to find the new face of Chinatown after Grace Xin, executive director of the area’s business association since March 2008, resigned last month, to take up a new job with the Tourism Industry Association of Canada where she will work primarily to strengthen tourism relations between China and Canada.
Xin stepped down mere days after the completion of the Chinatown arch, an undertaking she worked hard with the community to orchestrate.
After nearly two decades of debate about the archway, Xin was able to help unite the three tiers of government, along with business owners and residents, to push the project forward from start to finish between April 2008 and Oct. 7 of this year.
The total cost of the project was roughly $1 million, with $430,000 coming from the Somerset Street Chinatown BIA and donors within the community.
“In that project, Grace was an absolute dynamo,” says Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes. “Not only was she a central force in planning the archway and overseeing its completion, her personal involvement made the project work.”
Xin notes that the building of the archway has been her proudest moment in Ottawa.
Born in Southern China, Xin came to the city in 1999 to attend the University of Ottawa and has since gained much praise and respect from the community, especially from local merchants who credit her personal creativity for drawing business to Chinatown.
“The business owners of Somerset Street are busy running their stores and not very good at attracting new people into the area,” says Peter So, owner of So Good Restaurant and chair of the Chinatown BIA.
“Grace’s creativity has allowed the area to move forward and reach out to people that hadn’t been interested in Chinatown in the past.”
Much of the growing popularity of the area in recent years is the result of Chinatown’s expansion of arts and culture.
Notably, Xin’s partnership with Ottawa artist Donald Kwan has led to the successful Chinatown art festival called “Remixed.”
The festival provides exposure to talented local artists by putting their works on display in shops and restaurants along Somerset Street, while also attracting curious shoppers.
“The art show has been a real success in marketing Chinatown to the rest of Ottawa,” says Eric Darwin, president of the Dalhousie Community Association.
Despite the recent improvements to the area, the future is likely to hold challenges.
Dec. 1 is the application deadline for Xin’s replacement and the new director of the Chinatown BIA will inherit the responsibility of guiding the area through the planned overhaul of Somerset Street between Preston and Booth streets.
While enhanced outdoor light fixtures, benches, and expanded sidewalks are among the anticipated benefits of the project, the short-term impacts on local businesses caused by construction must be addressed.
The incoming executive director must "create a vision that has the buy-in from businesses, residents, and visitors within a larger community,” says Xin.
Attracting tourism will also be a challenge faced by the new head of the BIA. After years of visitors going elsewhere, tour buses are finally beginning to return to Chinatown in large numbers.
“The tour buses had been opting to visit the suburbs where there are free parking lots to stop,” says Holmes. “Now, they are coming back to see the arch.”
Holmes adds that the return of tourists will lead to a demand for more parking spaces. That will prove challenging for Xin’s replacement at a time when governments face pressure to reduce automobile use.