• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

RTM Masonry

Victoria's Trusted Masons

  • About Us
    • Careers in Masonry
  • Residential
    • Brick
      • Dufferin
      • Prospect Place
    • Stone
      • Beach
      • Allbay Road
      • Ard na Mara
      • Gordon Head Road
      • Humber
      • Jacklin
      • Juniper Gardens
      • Masters
      • Norquay Road
      • Price Road
      • Reginald Hill Saltspring Island
      • Valdez Place
    • Chimney
      • Chimney Repair
  • Commercial
    • High Rise Condos
      • Hudson Place One
      • Hudson Walk 1 & 2
    • Mixed use / Mid-rise Condos
      • 601 Herald
      • Bear Mountain Finlayson Reach
      • Bellewood Park
      • Belmont Market Buildings
      • Bowker
      • Esquimalt Town Square
      • Gladstone
      • North Dairy
      • McCallum Phase 1
      • Pandora
      • Penryhn
      • The Clive
      • The Hudson
      • The Madison
      • The Union
    • Health Care
      • Royal Jubilee Hospital Patient Care Centre
      • The Summit
    • Industrial
      • Esquimalt Graving Dock
      • Victoria Shipyard Ops Building
    • Educational
      • Royal Bay Secondary School
      • Royal Roads University – Learning Teaching Auditorium
    • Hospitality / Recreational
      • Bear Mountain Rec. Centre
      • Bear Mountain Westin Hotel
      • Bear Mountain Fairway Hotel
      • Bear Mountain Resort
      • Oak Bay Beach Hotel
      • Westhills YMCA
  • Masonry Restoration
    • Brick Repointing & Targeted Masonry Repairs
      • 595 Pandora
      • Fairmont Empress Hotel
      • 1800 Block Government
      • Empress Hotel
      • Hoy Sun Brick and Restoration
      • Leland Building Restoration
      • St. Andrews Presbyterian Cathedral
    • Seismic Upgrade & Targeted Masonry Repairs
      • PL James Place
    • Heritage Modifications
      • Uplands Mansion
      • Victoria City Hall
  • Custom
    • Compass Point Grotto
    • Humber Stone Wall
    • Norquay Stone Art
    • Songhees Wellness Centre
    • Reginald Hill Saltspring Island
  • Community Blog
  • Contact

Heritage Restoration in the oldest Chinatown in Canada

September 15, 2016 by ducksadmin

We are proudly undertaking yet another restoration in a heritage building located in a historic area of Victoria. This time is a marvellous 1903 jewel is Chinatown, situated right next to the Chinese Public School (also on the Heritage registry, and a building that has been entrusted to our skilled crew as well.)

Chinatown Image

The Gee Tuck Tong Benevolent Association Building is a fundamental part of the group of early buildings that define the historic character of the Chinatown in Victoria, one of the few in North America to retain significant clusters of valuable heritage and historical buildings. Victoria’s is Chinatown also notable as the oldest Chinatown in Canada and only second in North America to San Francisco’s.

Scaffolding Chinatown

In 1995 the entire district was designated a National Historic Site of Canada, but the heritage character and importance of this particular property had been formally recognized by the Canadian Register of Historic Places in early 1992.

The building was built in 1903, design for retail stores at street level and the association rooms above with a narrow passage to a tenement at the back. (The photography on the left shows the Scaffolding setup against the wall of the tenement area). The entire structure of the building speaks of an era where the area’s budding population was struggling to retain its roots and identity, while incorporating themselves to the nascent western Canadian way of life.

Once again, we found ourselves immersed in a project that brings us to the very roots of what means, in historical terms to be a Victorian. A project that really challenges our pride in our craftsmanship and our skills to perform to do sensitive masonry repairs on historical buildings. How can we not love this job?

Filed Under: Projects

Footer

Connect With Us

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Phone
  • Vimeo
937 Dunford Ave #121, Victoria, BC V9B 2S3 • P: (250) 478-3364 • F: (250) 478-3324 • info@emailrtm.com

Copyright © 2023 RTM Masonry • All rights reserved. • Privacy Policy • Disclaimer

  • Contact
  • Careers in Masonry