bizzeee...

avoiding my blog, as the blog police will surely tell you.

lately, i've spent much of the past few days moving the stuff out of the old Hip Sing building on Broadway. this building, which was built in 1901, was purchased by the local chapter in 1974...for $40,000 and probably $25,000 in renovation/upgrades. it was quite active until the early 90's, when its membership tapered off and a general apathy ensued.

kinda sad. i have vivid memories of massive chinese new year parties w/ up to three hundred people...every table of ten w/ a lazy susan, armed w/ a big bowl of ice, two liter bottles of coke and 7-up, and a bottle of whiskey...running around w/ the other kids my age...the sound of the dice and dominoes being slammed on the pai gow tables...the all encompassing clouds of cigarette/cigar smoke...the chatter of gossiping women...and the bloody kung fu movies that were shown on the old 16mm Filmosound projector.

you're seven years old and nothing matters in the world except trying to eat as quickly as possible, play games, watch the adults gamble, and stay as long as possible...hoping in vain that your parents will stay until the wee hours of the morning and let you stay home from school because they left too late.

as i've mentioned before, chinese benevolent associations were havens for newly arrived immigrants (usually male) who needed some familiarity in their lonely lives, thousands of miles from their loved ones. at the local tong, they could gamble, get a meal, keep up w/ the chinese newspapers, and feel like they belonged.

well, no longer. unfortunately, the once 450 member strong denver chapter of Hip Sing Tong has probably dwindled to less than 100 active members. the 'changing of the guard' never came. i guess it's generational. the majority of the membership comprised of blue collar workers who implored their children to strive and overachieve in school; seek white collar jobs so they wouldn't have to work as hard as those before them - 'succeed.' and the children did what their parents asked (perhaps too well) and forgot about that fraternal order and the once majestic building, which had fallen into tired disrepair.

that old, smoky structure was just sold for $750K...a steal for the buyers since the assessed property value of ol' 238 Broadway was in the neighborhood of $1.2-$1.3 million. the new owners are going to transform that building into lofts, in hopes of competing w/ the lavish, but overpriced ones downtown.

i know you can't stop 'progress,' but the rattle of the red dice in those funky aluminum holders will always resonate in that space. i wonder if any Hip Sing ghosts will surface when the new loft owners move in...