As Lethbridge lost the 104-year-old Bow On Tong building to a fire in early February, many feared that the last remnants of Chinatown were gone with it. Some staples of the historic community still stand along 2 Avenue; most of us are familiar with the bold architecture of the Chinese Freemason building, or the Traditional Chinese lettering atop the Wing Wah Chong Co. building. As more historic buildings are lost to time, however, it is worth examining exactly what purpose they served in the first place—and why they still matter today.

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