Polo Park

Polo Park (corporately styled as "CF Polo Park") is a shopping centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is situated on the former Polo Park Racetrack near the junction of Portage Avenue and St. James Street and is the largest mall of the eight malls in the city. It is the 15th largest shopping centre in Canada, between Guildford Town Centre and Laurier Québec.

This article is about the shopping mall in Winnipeg. For the shopping mall in Enugu, Nigeria, see Polo Park Mall.
Polo Park
LocationWinnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Coordinates49.8838°N 97.199°W / 49.8838; -97.199
Address1485 Portage Avenue
Opening dateAugust 20, 1959 (1959-08-20)[1]
ManagementCadillac Fairview
OwnerCadillac Fairview
No. of stores and services200+
No. of anchor tenants5
Total retail floor area1,202,000 square feet (111,700 m2)
No. of floors3
Public transit accessPolo Park Transit Terminal
Websitepolopark.ca

History

The Polo Park Mall opened Thursday August 20, 1959[2] and became one of the first enclosed shopping malls in Canada when a roof was added in 1963, the other being the Park Royal Shopping Centre.[3][4]

The district was once the sports hub of Winnipeg, with the Winnipeg Arena, Canad Inns Stadium, and Winnipeg Velodrome all of which had been located at Polo Park. The Velodrome was torn down in the 1990s to make way for a strip mall that includes Home Depot and Chapters. The arena and stadium have also since been demolished and replaced by new retail and office complexes.[5]

The former CKY building is situated next to the mall. It used to house the city's CTV Television Network affiliate, CKY-TV, CKY radio, and FM 92 CITI. It was the original home of the WTN network. Corus Radio Winnipeg has occupied the building since 2011, as part of a lease agreement between Corus Entertainment and Cadillac Fairview. Studios for CJOB 680, CFPG-FM 99.1 and CJKR-FM 97.5 are located on the second floor of the three-story building.[6]

Expansions

In the spring of 1968 a $7.5 million expansion of Polo Park was completed. The addition brought a three-storey Eaton's department store to the mix. With this add-on, Polo Park became the second largest shopping centre in Canada at the time.[7]

In 1986, the mall underwent a $75 million renovation that added a second level to the building. This addition was panned by downtown Winnipeg merchants, who voiced their objections to the plan at city council meetings in 1984; however, city council approved the expansion.[8][9] The expanded shopping centre opened in mid-August 1986.[10]

Another expansion took place in 2007, which added 20,000 square feet (1,900 m2). The cost of this addition was $30 million.[11]

A new $49-million expansion to Polo Park opened October 1, 2014 in the former Zellers space on the mall's second level. The redeveloped space included 114,000 square feet (10,600 m2) of retail space and 17 new stores.[12]

Polo Park has also added new retail complexes which are located on properties adjacent to the north of the mall. Polo North is located on the site of the former Winnipeg Arena, while The Plaza at Polo Park is being developed on the former Canad Inns Stadium grounds.[5]

Response to the COVID-19 pandemic

On March 15 2020 Cadillac Fairview announced that affective Monday March 16 2020, they would be shortening their hours to 11am-7pm on weekdays and 11am-6pm on weekends.[13] Normally their hours are 9am-9pm on weekdays and 9am-6pm on weekends. Almost all stores are closed and the mall is almost deserted.[14]

References
  1. Polo Park Shopping Centre, Shopping-canada.com. Quoted: 13 September 2015.
  2. "Big New Centre Dedicated". Winnipeg Free Press. August 20, 1959.
  3. "The Mall Turns 50". Winnipeg Free Press. August 16, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
  4. "Our History". HBC. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
  5. "There's a new Marshalls in town". Winnipeg Free Press. March 3, 2013.
  6. cky-dt, broadcasting-history.ca
  7. "Multi-Million Dollar Polo Park Expansion Nears Completion". Winnipeg Free Press. February 21, 1968. p. 45.
  8. "Downtown merchants criticize Polo Park expansion plan". Winnipeg Free Press. September 7, 1984. p. 3.
  9. "Polo Park expansion approved by council". Winnipeg Free Press. September 6, 1984. p. 1.
  10. "Refurbished Polo Park mall overwhelms shoppers". Winnipeg Free Press. August 14, 1986. p. 2.
  11. "Lots more in store for Polo Park". Winnipeg Free Press. 2007-03-26. p. 18.
  12. McNeill, Murray (2 October 2014). "We're talking shopping here". Winnipegfreepress.com. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  13. https://globalnews.ca/news/6678323/coronavirus-reduced-mall-hours/ retrieved March 21 2020
  14. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/coronavirus/shoppers-shun-city-malls-568920342.html retrieved March 21 2020
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.