The Chinatown Centre is defined by its deep magenta facade and the curved, tile-covered roofline that sits along Spadina Avenue. Opened in nineteen eighty-nine, the complex attempted to modernize the neighborhood retail experience by bringing dozens of small merchants under one roof in a vertical mall. Jean Lumb, a prominent community activist who campaigned for the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, spent years pushing for the project to ensure that immigrant entrepreneurs had a stable, central place to conduct their business.
Chinatown Centre
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