08-03-2025
After long wait, plans underway to build Bruce Lee statue in San Francisco's Chinatown
A project is now in the works to build a bronze statue of Bruce Lee in San Francisco's Chinatown neighborhood.
The Chinese Historical Society of America Museum wants to pay tribute to the martial arts icon and film star, who was born at the Chinese Hospital on Jackson Street on Nov. 27, 1940.
"This is a long wished for and now active project," said Justin Hoover of the CHSA. "It is time to bring our native son home."
The statue is a long-time dream of Jeff Chinn, who has one of the largest collections of Bruce Lee memorabilia. His hope is to follow in the footsteps of Hong Kong, Croatia and Los Angeles who have all built statues to the action star legend.
"I think this is a very big deal… because a statue is the form of honor that you can bestow upon someone," Chinn told CBS News Bay Area.
For Chinn, the statute is personal. He was born in San Francisco's Chinatown and moved to the East Bay where he says he was bullied and teased as a kid.
His only escape was watching Bruce Lee films, including Enter the Dragon (1973) and Game of Death (1979), where he gained confidence seeing a larger-than-life star on the silver screen who looked like him.
"I never met him, but he actually helped me out," said Chinn. "And until my dying day, I will do my best to pay him back in any way that I can."
Currently, the CHSA is looking to commission an artist to create the statue.
They will be working with community organizations and private donors to raise $250,000 for the project, with $50,000 in seed money already secured from the Rose Pak Community Fund.
"I grew up watching Bruce Lee's films with my parents and relatives," said Gorretti Lo Lui, vice president of the fund. "His films are part of our family's collective memory. Having a public statue to educate about Bruce Lee in the Chinatown where he was born is both a fitting tribute and will serve as a pilgrimage destination for people across the world."
The goal is to build the bronze statue of Bruce Lee in Chinatown's Portsmouth Square. The project is expected to take three to five years to complete.
