DENVER — The heart of Denver’s Japanese American community is crumbling, and the nonprofit that owns Sakura Square is racing to secure the funding needed to save it.
The Sakura Foundation has applied for a $30 million loan from the Downtown Denver Development Authority to fully reconstruct the complex. The application is still being processed, and if approved, the planning and rebuilding timeline is expected to take about four years.
“The ravages of time have caused structural cracks in the facilities, and a lot of the basic infrastructure serving the buildings has also begun to wear out,” said Charles Ozaki, board member of the Sakura Foundation.
Temporary scaffolding now surrounds parts of the plaza to keep the space safe, but Ozaki said it is not a long-term fix.
“I think temporary repairs can be made, but the permanent solution is for all of the facilities to be fully reconstructed," Ozaki said.
The foundation applied for around $30 million, but Ozaki said the final amount, if approved, will likely be less, with the difference made up through fundraising.
Sakura Square has anchored Denver’s Japanese American community for generations. The Buddhist temple on the block was built in 1947, and the square itself was developed in the mid-1970s. For many who came to Denver – some after being displaced from Japanese American concentration camps during World War II – it became a place of belonging.
Masaki Hirano, owner of Flatfield Denim Club, a Japanese denim repair and alteration shop in the square, said the community it offered was something he needed when he arrived in Colorado.
“I was lonely, and I just needed a place like this community,” said Hirano.
Hirano, who is originally from Japan and moved to Colorado in late 2005 or early 2006, said Sakura Square has been a constant in his life in Denver.
“Ever since I moved to Denver… I’ve been coming to Sakura Square,” he said. “This is just a really special place to me.”
Pacific Mercantile Company, an Asian grocery store that has operated in the square since 1973 and traces its roots back to 1944 on the other side of Larimer Street, is among the businesses that depend on the complex’s survival. Co-owner Jolie Noguchi said the need for repairs is impossible to ignore.
“You can see the scaffolding that’s around us. There are some cracks and major issues that need to be brought to everyone’s attention,” Noguchi said. “Without the heart of this community and Sakura Square, we would not be here.”
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