North Hill Centre
Encyclopedia
North Hill Centre is a shopping mall
in Calgary
. Alberta
. The mall was opened in June 1958 and was Western Canada's largest shopping mall at the time. It was also Calgary's first ever shopping mall, as well as the first Calgary store to offer late-night shopping. The original anchor tenant was Simpsons-Sears.
design with a covered walkway.
By the 1990s, anchor tenants for the mall were Sears, Canada Safeway and Super Valu, giving the mall the unusual distinction of having two major grocery stores. The Super Valu closed in the mid-1990s as its owner retired the brand in favor of big-box Real Canadian Superstore
locations, and the spot was filled by a succession of retailers until work began on a major mall renovation at the end of the 1990s.
In 2000, the mall was again heavily renovated, once again adopting the style of having key tenants accessible from the exterior of the building. The interior of the mall was also heavily renovated. A medical centre was provided and condominium
complex was added on the south side. The Canada Safeway, originally located next to Sears, was relocated to the far end of the mall where the Super Valu grocery store had once been, and the mall's food court was completely redesigned, though it remained in its original location.
The North Hill Theatre, erected in the parking lot in 1967, had remained in operation until 1999, ceasing business operations just after the run of Star Wars: Episode I. The theatre was one of Calgary's last major old-style single-screen movie palaces at the time of its demolition in 2000. The building also contained a bowling alley. It was demolished in order to make room for more parking, and to allow the footprint of the mall expand with the addition of several exterior-access-only retailers.
Although there is some covered parking available due to the positioning of the Renaissance condominiums, North Hill is one of the largest malls in the city not to offer underground or parkade parking.
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
. Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
. The mall was opened in June 1958 and was Western Canada's largest shopping mall at the time. It was also Calgary's first ever shopping mall, as well as the first Calgary store to offer late-night shopping. The original anchor tenant was Simpsons-Sears.
The mall opened at 1632 14 Ave N.W. in June 1958, offering about 30 stores and services. Hailed as the largest shopping centre in Western Canada at the time, it transformed the shopping experience for Calgarians. "It was revolutionary to have a mall and to have late-night shopping and all of that kind of stuff that is just quite normal for us now," said (spokeswoman Paula) Newhold. "The real experience was that it was all in one place - that was the interesting thing."
History
The original design for the mall called for an exterior strip mallStrip mall
A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
design with a covered walkway.
1973 expansion
The first major renovation to the mall occurred in 1973. The mall expanded to include twenty more stores, and an enclosed mall area was constructed amongst the existing stores. The design called for a central corridor with irregularly sized columns and ceiling heights, presenting an inconsistent look to the storefronts in the mall.By the 1990s, anchor tenants for the mall were Sears, Canada Safeway and Super Valu, giving the mall the unusual distinction of having two major grocery stores. The Super Valu closed in the mid-1990s as its owner retired the brand in favor of big-box Real Canadian Superstore
Real Canadian Superstore
Real Canadian Superstore is a chain of hypermarkets owned by Canadian food retailing giant Loblaw Companies. Its name is often shortened to RCSS or Superstore....
locations, and the spot was filled by a succession of retailers until work began on a major mall renovation at the end of the 1990s.
2000 renovations
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
complex was added on the south side. The Canada Safeway, originally located next to Sears, was relocated to the far end of the mall where the Super Valu grocery store had once been, and the mall's food court was completely redesigned, though it remained in its original location.
The North Hill Theatre, erected in the parking lot in 1967, had remained in operation until 1999, ceasing business operations just after the run of Star Wars: Episode I. The theatre was one of Calgary's last major old-style single-screen movie palaces at the time of its demolition in 2000. The building also contained a bowling alley. It was demolished in order to make room for more parking, and to allow the footprint of the mall expand with the addition of several exterior-access-only retailers.
Although there is some covered parking available due to the positioning of the Renaissance condominiums, North Hill is one of the largest malls in the city not to offer underground or parkade parking.