Colorado's Japanese Americans: From 1886 to the Present

17: Sakura Square

S A K U R A S Q U A R E P A G E 164 The heart of Denver’s Japantown,Nineteenth toTwentieth Streets and Larimer to Lawrence, and the surrounding area grew shabbier as the years passed. By 1962 the lay leaders of the Denver Buddhist Temple, which was near the corner of Twentieth and Lawrence, realized they needed to improve the site. But how? They also wanted to sponsor a low rent housing project for the growing number of elderly in the community, with or without the cooperation of the Japanese Association, which also was considering a housing project. The problem came to a head four years later when the Denver Urban Renewal Authority (DURA) announced it was preparing to demolish the outdated structures on thirty square blocks of lower downtown Denver and open the property for rebuilding a modern city district. The Buddhist Temple was at the edge of this project. Members were told they could sell their building and move out of the c h a p t e r s e v e n t e e n S A K U R A S Q U A R E S A K U R A S Q U A R E P A G E 165 area, or buy and develop the entire block—Nineteenth to Twentieth, Larimer to Lawrence—after it was cleared of all but the temple. It was an opportunity and challenge on a scale never experienced by the Japanese American community. Fortunately, government projects progress slowly, providing the temple leaders time to weigh the opportunities as well as the burdens associated with redeveloping an entire city block. Finally, on March 10, 1971, the Tri-States Buddhist Church purchased the property from DURA for $188,800 to build what would be called the Sakura (“Cherry Blossom”) Square project. A plan evolved to build a 20-story apartment building that would be called Tamai Tower. It would be the tallest building in the area, with 204 apartments plus a community room on the top floor. The first two levels were to be commercial. A strategic ground-floor corner of the tower was spoken for by the Granada market. Adjoining the tower and linked to it by an overpass would be a two-story commercial complex. A large plaza designed like a Japanese garden, located near the tower’s entrance, would carry an identifying sign— Sakura Square—in English and Japanese script. Only a few decades earlier Japanese bathhouses had occupied the site. The board that made the decision to take on the project was made up of Tsunoda, Ben Hara, Jim Kanemoto, Floyd Koshio, Lee Murata, Edward Nakagawa, Frank Nakata, Sam Suekama, Jim Tochihara, A. M. Watada, Kenzo Fujimori, and Herb Inouye—all but two of them Nisei. Bruton Bertram and Associates were the architects and Titan Construction Company became the contractors. With a forty-year loan guarantee from the Federal Housing Administration, the First National Bank of Denver provided a construction loan of $3,907,000 and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company provided an extended S A K U R A S Q U A R E P A G E 166 loan of $4,023,800. It was by far the most ambitious project undertaken by the Denver Japanese American community. Ground was broken March 17, 1971. The topping out ceremony for the Tamai Tower residential section was held January 25, 1972, with a proper Buddhist ceremony in which, incongruously but appropriately, Tamai, Tsunoda, and Unryu Sugiyama wore construction workers’ hard hats as they recited the sutra. Just a little over two years after construction began, on the weekends of May 12–13 and May 19–20, 1973, Tamai Tower and Sakura Square were dedicated at ceremonies attended by, among others, Colorado governor John Vanderhoof, Denver mayor Bill McNichols, and Bishop Kenryu Tsuji of the Buddhist Churches of America. Tamai Tower’s first administrator was Floyd Koshio of Fort Lupton and his wife Ina served as office manager. Kenzo Fujimori later joined the staff as co-administrator. The original business firms leasing space in the project were Pacific Mercantile, Granada Supermarket, Sakura Beauty Salon, Nakai’s Gift Shop, Haws and Company, which retailed Asian antiques and art goods, and two restaurants. One was the Akebono Restaurant owned by Fred Aoki. He moved his restaurant from the pool hall on Larimer across the street into spanking new...