Report of the Building Committee

It has been an exciting year since I took on the post as the Vice President (Project Planning) and the Chair of the Building Committee of the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto (CCC).

After a careful review of the preliminary work done by the previous architect, it was agreed by the Board to seek an alternate architect to carry on with the design of the Phase II expansion project. Young and Wright in association with Ng Chee Architects were selected as the Project Architects. During the early stage of the project, all the constraints and opportunities were identified. Regular meetings were held with the committee members and the architect team to derive at a first concept plan, which was completed on schedule for the launch at a Special Media Conference before Christmas last year.

The Phase II launch was a great success. Our architect team has since organized and attended user group meetings to refine design details and to ensure the final product is suitable for the CCC end-users. Numerous meetings were held with the City's planning staff to address various planning and legal matters. Final concept plan is now ready for site plan application. As of today, the Phase II matters will be put to the City's Community Council on July 2, 2002 seeking for council's support.

The followings are the highlights of the final concept plan and its design objectives: Phase II of the Chinese Cultural Centre will consist of a 600-seat acoustically refined theatre, and a multi-purposes hall, which will be able to host a variety of recreational activities, including basketball, badminton, table tennis and ballroom dancing, as well as social gatherings, meetings and exhibitions. One of the design objectives is to ensure the final product will fully integrate with the current CCC building so that it is functional and efficient. The CCC users will keep coming back to enjoy their stays and uses.