History
The creation of the Chan Centre was made possible by an initial donation from two brothers and businessmen, Tom and Caleb Chan. This was the largest private donation to a cultural institution in Canadian history at the time. The Chan brothers also donated additional funds in order to set up an endowment fund which, through the interest revenue that it generates, supports many arts organizations and diverse performances at the local, national and international level.
The Chan brothers are philanthropists, businessmen and Christians. Their father, Chan Shun, worked his way up in the business world, from sewing in a shirt factory to eventually becoming the head of the Crocodile shirt company. His sons were strongly influenced by his morals and generosity and in the 1980s, after immigrating to Canada, they decided to give back to their new country by helping to build an educational arts facility at UBC. They approached president David Strangway (president of UBC from 1985–1997) and made the proposal, and soon, the concept for a performing arts centre was in motion.
The construction of the Chan Centre took 2 years to complete and the official opening occurred on May 11, 1997. The cost came to approximately $25 million dollars with donations from the Chan Foundation of Canada, BC Tel (now Telus), the Royal Bank of Canada and the Provincial Government of British Columbia.
Read more about this topic: Chan Centre For The Performing Arts
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