Posted by ReyFort Media
An exclusive report by Global News on Monday (September 29) has revealed more details about a plan for a Filipino cultural centre in Vancouver.
The report by Jason Pires stated that if things go according to plan, the 60,000-square-foot centre may be completed in 2029.
Based on a graphic displayed by Global News, the centre will be part of a hotel development that may also serve as a potential new home of the Philippine consulate general.
The multiple-storey Filipino centre will be part of a major hotel tower development at 1940 Main Street at the corner of 4th Avenue.
The said hotel tower is planned to rise 30 storeys.
In addition and near to 1940 Main Street, the hotel development will involve a sister tower at 143 East 3rd Avenue.
Pires interviewed Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim and Warren Dean Flandez of the Filipino Legacy Society (FLS).
Sim said that the proposed development will provide much needed hotel rooms in the city.
Sim is filing a motion to advance the delivery of a Filipino cultural centre as part of the hotel project.
“I want to make sure this happens,” Sim said.
Flandez is the chair of FLS, a nonprofit that has partnered with developer Macario “Tobi” Reyes.
“This is about everyone,” Flandez said about the prospective centre that is envisioned to serve Filipinos and all communities.
Sim’s chief of staff Trevor Ford and senior advisor David Grewal hosted a community townhall at the city on September 27.
At the said meeting, Ford reiterated that no hotel will be built unless it houses a Filipino cultural centre in the proposed location.
In the same September 27 townhall, developer Reyes said that he will create an endowment to support the centre.
Reyes also plans to donate a portion of the profits from his hotel operation to help the centre.
Reyes explained that with these measures, the future Filipino cultural centre will be self-sustaining.
Based on the Global News report, the hotel project at 1940 Main Street will also include a childcare facility and flex spaces on ground level.
Flandez told Pires that groundbreaking for the project may happen in 2026.
ReyFort Media 
Leave a comment