For more than 50 years, Chinese-Americans in Seattle have wanted a historic gate with upturned eaves and bathed in lucky red to welcome people to old Chinatown.

That day is approaching as members of the Historic Chinatown Gate Foundation prepare for the Feb. 9 unveiling of the 45-foot archway that straddles South King Street near Fifth Avenue South.

"We're proud of what the Chinese did in Seattle," said foundation President Tuck Eng, 74. "It's our roots. But this gate is also for the whole Pacific Northwest."

		Dan DeLong / P-I
	Animals such as a dragon and a phoenix atop a new gate under construction in Chinatown are said to keep away bad luck and welcome a flow of good air.

Members hope the $500,000 archway will attract more visitors to the International District and will be the first of two structures marking old Chinatown along South King Street.

The gate, they add, is similar to ones in Vancouver, B.C., San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Yokohama, Japan. And in southern China, the birthplace of many who moved to Seattle, archways mark the entrances to cities.

Seattle resident Betty Lau, foundation secretary, recalled her father talking with other Chinatown members about a gate for years.

"I've heard about this practically my whole life," Lau, 60, said. "I just wish my dad were alive to see this."

The steel-and-ceramic structure features gold, yellow, green and blue -- colors that emperors cherished -- and marks the western entrance of old Chinatown.

The Chinese writing on its top essentially translates into "China Gate."

On its peach-colored ceramic roof are animals, such as a dragon and phoenix. They help keep bad luck away and welcome a flow of good air, said Paul Wu, a Kirkland architect who worked on the project.

		Dan DeLong / P-I
	A dragon is featured in the tile work on the new Chinatown gate, which will be unveiled Feb. 9.

Those ceramic ornaments were made in China.

Passers-by also will notice an orb on the top. "That's a fireball from heaven, which symbolizes good luck," Wu said.

"In the old days, when subjects did good work, the emperor would bestow a gate."

The gate, he added, has upturned eaves because some Chinese believe straight lines can "shoot forceful energy." Curves can soften that force.

Serious planning for the archway started around 2002, when Eng told others it was time to act, Lau said. Volunteers eventually formed the nonprofit foundation.

They raised money from English- and non-English-speaking residents, and the foundation received help from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the South Downtown Foundation, the city of Seattle, King County, MulvannyG2 Architecture and other groups.

Wu, 59, traveled to Beijing, Xian and southern China and studied gates there. He realized the Chinese paid attention to colors and painting under the archways -- details he incorporated with Seattle's gate.

Construction started in 2006. To stabilize the archway, crews had to drill 85 feet into the ground. The foundation has set aside $50,000 to keep the gate clean, Lau said.

Foundation members are still raising money, hoping to build the eastern gate at South King Street and 12th Avenue South.

If a second gate is built, the two would bookend the Asian Resource Center, the new site of the Wing Luke Asian Museum, Hing Hay Park, restaurants and markets.

On Sunday, as children played near the first gate, Qian Xue, a 19-year-old exchange student from Shanghai, recognized its significance.

"It's like I'm back in China," he said.

PUBLIC UNVEILING AND HELPING OUT

• A 10 a.m. ceremony to unveil the Chinatown Gate at South King Street and Fifth Avenue South will be held Saturday, Feb. 9. Lunar New Year events will be held the same day starting at noon at Union Station, 401 S. Jackson St.

• To support the Historic Chinatown Gate Foundation, send checks made payable to the group to P.O. Box 18922, Seattle, WA 98104.