Penny Lane Mall

Last updated • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
The Penny Lane Mall operated from 1973 until 2006 in a block of renovated buildings in downtown Calgary Alberta. Penny Lane Mall, 1973-08.jpg
The Penny Lane Mall operated from 1973 until 2006 in a block of renovated buildings in downtown Calgary Alberta.

In 1973 the Penny Lane Mall was built in downtown Calgary, Alberta, preserving the facade of a block of older buildings on 8th Avenue SW. [1] According to The Calgary Herald the mall preserved the facade of one of Calgary's first hospitals, the first Colonel Belcher Hospital, a military hospital opened in 1918. The Calgary Herald reported shoppers would be surrounded by "an atmosphere of quality and elegance".

In 1983 The Calgary Herald's Tom Keyser profiled Bob Hutchison, the mall's long-time shoe-shine-boy -- one of only three individuals who still operated a shoe-shine stand in Calgary. [2] Hutchison said the mall's management considered him a "drawing card", so he was charged no rent.

In 1985 Eaton's opened a large department store across the street from the mall. [3] The Calgary Herald reported vendors in the mall welcomed the shoppers the Eaton's store would attract.

According to the 2002 edition of The Canadian Rockies: A Colourguide the Penny Lane Mall was part of an extensive blocks of properties connected by covered walkways at second floor level. [4] The walkways, called +15 because the walkways were approximately 15 feet above street level, allowed shoppers to "cruise the malls in comfort even if the weather is frightful." The guide said, in 2002, that the walkways gave shirtsleeve access to 400 stores.

In 2006 developers planned to demolish the structure and replace it with two modern glass-clad high-rise towers. [5] [6] According to The Calgary Herald "The demolition marks the end of a chapter in Calgary's history." Sections of the original sandstone, and original timber beams, will be incorporated into a "historical interpretive display". According to the Calgary Heritage Initiative, heritage enthusiasts tried, and failed, to interest the city or the developers in retaining some portion of the original facade. [7] The developers agreed to incorporate an interpretive display if the "Friends of Penny Lane" would stop lobbying for more ambitious preservation.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saks Fifth Avenue</span> Multinational department store chain founded in the United States

Saks Fifth Avenue is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washington, D.C. in 1867. Saks expanded into Manhattan with its Herald Square store in 1902 and flagship store on Fifth Avenue in 1924. The chain was acquired by Tennessee-based Proffitt's, Inc. in 1998, and Saks, Inc. was acquired by the Canadian-based Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Eaton Centre</span> Shopping mall and office complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Toronto Eaton Centre is a shopping mall and office complex in the downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned and managed by Cadillac Fairview (CF). It was named after the Eaton's department store chain that once anchored it before the chain went defunct in the late 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eaton's</span> Defunct Canadian retailer

The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's and then Eaton, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying-offices around the globe, and a mail-order catalog that was found in the homes of most Canadians. A changing economic and retail environment in the late twentieth century, along with mismanagement, culminated in the chain's bankruptcy in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yorkdale Shopping Centre</span> Shopping mall in North York, Toronto

Yorkdale Shopping Centre, Yorkdale Mall, or simply Yorkdale, is a major retail shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located at the intersection of Highway 401 and Allen Road, it opened in 1964 as the largest enclosed shopping mall in the world. Yorkdale is currently the third largest shopping mall in Canada by floor space and has the highest sales per unit area of any mall in Canada, with current merchandise sales levels at roughly CA$1,905/square foot. At 18 million annual visitors, it is one of the country's busiest malls. Many international retailers have ventured the Canadian market initially at Yorkdale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolis at Metrotown</span> Shopping mall in Burnaby, Canada

Metropolis at Metrotown is a three-storey shopping mall complex in the Metrotown area of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Opened in 1986, it is the largest mall in British Columbia and the third-largest in Canada, behind Alberta's West Edmonton Mall and Ontario's Square One Shopping Centre, with 27 million customer visits annually. The mall is located adjacent to Metrotown station on the SkyTrain rapid transit system. Three office buildings are part of the complex along Central Boulevard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plus 15</span> Pedestrian skywalk system in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The Plus 15 or +15 is a Skyway network in Calgary, Alberta. It is the world's most extensive pedestrian skywalk system, with a total length of 16 kilometres and 86 bridges connecting 130 buildings as of 2022. Calgary often has severe winters and the walkways allow people to get around the city's downtown more quickly and comfortably. The busiest parts of the network saw over 20,000 pedestrians per day in a 2018 count.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Calgary</span> Neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Downtown Calgary is a dense urban district in central Calgary, Alberta. It contains the second largest concentration of head offices in Canada, despite only being the country's fourth largest city in terms of population. The downtown is divided into several residential, commercial, corporate, and mixed-use neighbourhoods, including the Financial District (CBD), Eau Claire, Chinatown, East Village, Beltline, and the West End.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eaton Centre</span> Canadian shopping centres

Eaton Centre is a name associated with shopping centres in Canada, originating with Eaton's, one of Canada's largest department store chains at the time that these malls were developed. Eaton's partnered with development companies throughout the 1970s and 1980s to develop downtown shopping malls in cities across Canada. Each mall contained an Eaton's store, or was in close proximity to an Eaton's store, and typically the mall itself carried the "Eaton Centre" name. These joint ventures were a significant retail development trend in Canada during that period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinook Centre</span> Shopping centre in Calgary, Alberta

Chinook Centre is the largest shopping mall in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is located near the geographic centre of the city on Macleod Trail, north of Glenmore Trail about 5 km (3.1 mi) south of downtown, and three blocks west of the Chinook C-Train station. The mall is operated by Cadillac Fairview.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Avenue</span> Historic district in Alberta, Canada

Stephen Avenue is a major pedestrian mall in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The mall is the portion of 8 Avenue SW between 4 Street SW and 1 Street SE. It is open to vehicles only from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eighth Avenue Place</span> Building complex in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Eighth Avenue Place is a 1,850,000 sq ft (172,000 m2) twin-tower building complex located in downtown Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The complex includes a 49-storey 212 m (696 ft) East tower, 40-storey 177 m (581 ft) West office tower, and a three-storey indoor urban park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cityplace (Winnipeg)</span> Shopping mall

Cityplace is a nine-storey office and retail complex situated in Downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The number of weekly shoppers is 150,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlborough Mall</span> Shopping mall in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Marlborough Mall is a shopping mall located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Opened in November 1971, the mall has expanded several times and today includes approximately 100 stores and services, and encompasses 570,837 square feet (53,032.5 m2) of retail floor space. The mall also featured a Safeway until the 1990s, when the store moved to its own location west of 36th Street.

The Shops at North Bridge, once known as Westfield North Bridge, is an upscale, urban retail-entertainment district in Chicago, Illinois, located at 520 N. Michigan Avenue. Its anchor store is Nordstrom. Its name alludes first to its location within the nine-block North Bridge complex and to the literal distinction of the shopping center incorporating four-level enclosed bridges over both east Grand Ave, and north Rush Street. When Westfield owned the mall, confusingly, "Westfield North Bridge" typically refers only to the enclosed mall, but Westfield holds a retail management contract for the entire North Bridge complex, which includes another multistory retail complex built in 1995 and street-level retail spaces throughout the complex. North Bridge also includes five hotels, three parking garages, and two office buildings, housing the American Medical Association and Euro RSCG. Upon opening, it also included a DisneyQuest "urban amusement park," since converted into a furniture store.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midtown (mall)</span> Shopping mall

Midtown is a shopping mall in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, located in the Central Business District neighbourhood. The main anchor store is Hudson's Bay and the shopping centre has a total store count of 154 stores. The mall was built on the former site of the city's main railway station as part of a major inner city redevelopment project in the 1960s that also saw construction of a freeway, the Senator Sid Buckwold Bridge, TCU Place - an arts-convention complex - and a new facility for the city's YMCA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winnipeg Walkway</span> Network of pedestrian skyways and tunnels

The Winnipeg Walkway System, also known as the Winnipeg Skywalk, is a network of pedestrian skyways and tunnels connecting a significant portion of downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Orchard Park Shopping Centre is a regional shopping mall in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest shopping mall in the Okanagan. It is located on the major provincial highway, Harvey Avenue, at the intersections of Cooper Road and Dilworth Drive, south of Dilworth Mountain. With over 170 shops and services, Orchard Park Shopping Centre is the largest shopping mall between Greater Vancouver and the Calgary Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shops at Don Mills</span> Shopping mall in Ontario, Canada

The Shops at Don Mills is a lifestyle centre-type shopping centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located at Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East in Toronto. There are 72 retail stores with a total floor space of 47,550 square metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Core (shopping centre)</span> Shopping mall in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

The Core, which consists of TD Square, the Holt Renfrew building, the Stephen Avenue Place shops, and the former Calgary Eaton Centre, is the dominant shopping complex located in the downtown core of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It spans three city blocks and contains approximately 160 retailers on four levels. The property also contains six major office towers (TD Canada Trust Tower, Home Oil Tower, Dome Tower, and the historic Lancaster Building. It is the hub of downtown Calgary's +15 skywalk system, and as such is the busiest shopping centre in the city by pedestrian count, with around 250,000 visitors passing through each week. The centre's architectural focal point is a vast suspended glass skylight which spans the length of the complex. As of October 29, 2010, The Core offers free evening and weekend parking at its underground lots.

References

  1. "Facelift finished Penny Lane Mall opens". The Calgary Herald. 1973-08-28. Retrieved 2013-11-28. Located in a row of turn-of-the-century buildings on 8th Ave. S.W., Penny Lane combines a shopping concept originated in New Orleans with an old English feel.
  2. Tom Keyser (1983). "Footlights dim for shoeshine sage". Calgary Herald . Retrieved 2013-11-28.
  3. Joan Bryden, Don Atkinson (1985-06-12). "Eaton's unveils $210 million two-block project". The Calgary Herald. Store owners in the Penny Lane Mall, across 8th Avenue from the proposed Eaton's store, welcomed the plans, saying most shoppers now stop at 4th Street S.W.
  4. Ken McGoogan (2002). The Canadian Rockies: A Colourguide. Formac Publishing Company. p. 20. ISBN   9780887805547 . Retrieved 2013-11-28. Calgary's downtown claim to fame is its so-called Plus-15, a system of enclosed walkways fifteen feet above street level that links office towers and shopping centres so that you can cruise the malls in comfort even if the weather is frightful. Start at The Bay and continue through the Scotia Centre to the Calgary Eaton Centre/TD Square, Bankers Hall and Penny Lane Mall, and you'll find 400 stores, all under one roof.
  5. "Penny Lane demolition begins". Canada.com. 2007-05-23. Archived from the original on 2013-11-28. Retrieved 2013-11-28. The walls began to come tumbling down at the Penny Lane mall Tuesday as demolition started on the site to make way for two commercial towers.
  6. "Work to begin on $1B Penny Lane towers". Canada.com. 2007-03-24. Archived from the original on 2013-11-28. Retrieved 2013-11-28. Penny Lane was created in 1973 when warehouses and office buildings were combined into a mall. Today, the block includes such well-known nightspots as Cowboys and Ceili's pub.
  7. "Penny Lane news". Calgary Heritage Initiative. 2006. Archived from the original on 2013-11-28.