Having narrowly avoided demolition in 2013, the Friends of 439 invite attendees to celebrate this historic 125 year-old building, its significance and long, storied history. A rooming house and retail store serving the Japanese Canadian community until the uprooting in 1942, as the Longshoreman’s Local 509 Oldtimers Reading room in the 1950s, and as the Ming Sun Benevolent Society and Reading Room (a Wong family clan association for people from Guangdong), and finally as low-income housing and contemporary artist studios. Exhibition includes photos, writings, and an outdoor reading room. More info ›
