As ’26 approaches, GFBNEC and LTSC make astounding progress at First Street North.
By George Toshio Johnston, P.C. Senior Editor
Ever since announcements* that the First Street North project — a transformative new development for Little Tokyo that may change the enclave’s gravitational pull — were made a few years ago, with its official groundbreaking** having taken place on Feb. 13, 2024, astonishing progress has been made.
Photos: Courtesy of George Toshio Johnston
After construction on the long-gestating joint project among the Go for Broke National Education Center, the Little Tokyo Service Center and the City of Los Angeles commenced, it would be safe to say that someone who hadn’t in recent years visited the area, surrounded by Judge John Aiso, E. Temple and S. Alameda Streets, would find that what used to mostly be a parking lot had utterly changed.
When completed, it will boast affordable housing units, office and retail space and will be the future, much-needed new home for GFBNEC and other community nonprofits. As for a timeline, according to LTSC’s Tak Suzuki, “The south building is gonna be completed in the first quarter of next year, and then the north building is gonna be completed later in the summer.”
With Little Tokyo having been put on last year’s “11 Most Endangered Historic Places” and with continuing unease within some factions of the Little Tokyo community over the Little Tokyo-adjacent Fourth and Central Project***, the ramifications of First Street North (and the recent purchase of a Little Tokyo building on First Street by the Little Tokyo Community Impact fund****) make for a compelling, positive narrative about its future.
“I think we’ve all been concerned about Little Tokyo and whether it was going to survive,” said Marshall Ozawa, who sits on the GFBNEC board. As for First Street North, he added, “It is a good thing for Little Tokyo.”
Over the past several months, First Street North’s rapid changes included June 7’s 26th anniversary of the Go for Broke Monument that for more than 25 years had shared its presence with asphalt and parked cars and, on June 17, a “beam-signing” ceremony.
And what exactly was this beam-signing ceremony? Arranged by GFBNEC and LTSC, it was an event at which a large wooden beam that was destined to become part of the new building could be signed with a black marker for posterity, never to be seen again — at least not by those who signed it.
For GFBNEC President and CEO Mitch Maki, the fact that First Street North is making great progress in its transformation from the parking lot that surrounded the monument to what it is becoming is a testament to the foresight of the Nisei who not only fought for their country and community in war but also a reminder that even more than a quarter-century ago, they had a vision for peace and the future.
“They built the monument in the middle of a parking lot,” Maki told the Pacific Citizen. “Everybody thought they were crazy. ‘Why are you doing this?’ ‘Nobody’s coming to see it.’ It took a little while, but you know, now we are having this major project.”
For Ozawa, who had two uncles — Mike Tsuji and Robert Ichikawa — who served in the 100th Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team, writing a message on the beam was a tribute them and their comrades-in-arms, that their service connects the past to the present.
Ozawa believes that future visitors to First Street North who might not have seen the monument in the past will surely see it in the future and learn more about a vital part of American history.
For Scott Takahashi, who with his wife, Susan, wrote on the beam, his excitement is tempered. “This is huge,” he told the Pacific Citizen. “I only wish that more of the vets were still around. . . . If they could see this now, they’d be so proud. It’s just amazing.”
To see a video of the beam-signing ceremony visit tinyurl.com/mr2uenmv.
* See tinyurl.com/2wx78h78.
** See tinyurl.com/yeykkbzz.
*** See tinyurl.com/yj62dems.
**** See tinyurl.com/yc5ajtew.
