Westgate Shopping Centre (Ottawa)
The mall opened May 12, 1955, and is considered Ottawa's first shopping centre. The anchor of the mall was Freiman's department store, owned by Lawrence Freiman who already had a department store on Rideau Street. In advertising for its grand opening, Westgate boasted that it had parking for over 1200 cars, weather-protected shopping and music for its customers. Other stores included Steinberg's, Tip Top Tailors, a movie theater, Reitmans, Kiddytown and a branch of Royal Bank of Canada. The Royal Bank was the last remaining original tenant, before closing in 2022.
The mall is served by OC Transpo routes 55, 80, 81 and 85.
A proposed redevelopment plans to have the mall demolished and replaced in phases with high-rise commercial and residential buildings. The first phase began in November 2019 with the demolition of Monkey Joe's Restaurant on the south-east corner of the property.
References
- ^ "Siteplan Ontario" (PDF). www.riocan.com. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
- ^ "Did you know that Ottawa's first mall was built in Kitchissippi?". 20 May 2015.
- ^ Ottawa Citizen May 9th 1955
- ^ "Westgate lands could be reshaped under RioCan plan". Archived from the original on 2015-12-17. Retrieved 2015-12-15.
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