A small Buddhist facility in east Vancouver is looking to expand by adding a large meditation center.
The modest house at 3417 N.E. 138th Ave. has hosted a small Taiwanese Buddhist community since 1999, but you’d never know it unless you noticed the “Wen-Shu Buddhist Monastery” sign out front. The house faces the street, but the bulk of the half-acre parcel it sits on is vacant. The zoning is low-density residential, and the monastery has a total property tax exemption because it’s a religious facility.
“It’s a small monastery, a very small group,” said secretary Amy Lee. The leader of the group, a nun named Dao Shen, has gone back and forth to Taiwan frequently, and activity at the monastery on Northeast 138th Avenue has been minimal for the last few years, Lee said.
But now, the plan is to donate the property to a newly formed nonprofit, the Washington Buddhist Association, and build a 3,800-square-foot meditation hall behind the existing house. According to documents filed with the city of Vancouver, the building would accommodate 20 to 30 meditating people at a time. The meditation hall would feature a cathedral ceiling and a Buddha statue.
The building plans also call for break rooms, restrooms and a fully functioning kitchen. Eighteen parking spaces are tentatively planned.
Records show that the Washington Buddhist Association was formed in 2015 by the property owner, Hsueh-o Hsu, and several others who share the address on Northeast 138th Avenue as well as another residential address in nearby Cascade Park.
Construction money will come from Tiawan, Lee said. The group just had its preapplication meeting with the city last week; once permits are issued, the Washington Buddhist Association hopes to see construction finished within two years, Lee said.
The project architect is Geoffrey James of Salem, Ore.