Great article, Cedric. Thank you. As someone who moved to London in 2020, during COVID, your work here and in your previous 'stack has done a lot to educate me about the city outside of Byron. And you are correct, Citi Plaza has a lot of potential for a third life in downtown.
The effort you put into these pieces is always impressive. This "mall" has had a soft spot in my heart - my first job was in a dollar store where Dollarama is now, called The Silver Dollar, back in 1999.
The mall was hopping back then, with Eatons and The Bay still open, Original Kids Theatre Co rehearsal space beside us, a full fledged food court upstairs in the breezeway going over king st, and so much more.
One year, they even hosted the main court of a 3 on 3 tournament (pretty sure it was hoop it up) in the centre area outside what is now central library.
Oh, and London Mews/Smugglers Alley was still a thing in 1998ish across the street, but from what I can remember at that point only had the upstairs movie theatre. They used to have $2 second run movies there, and the theatre emptied onto the rooftop, which then had a staircase down to the street level. Being 15 year old d-bags, we used to sneak extra condiment packages from the concession stand and try to sneak attack people walking by below. The 70+ year old security guard, who I think's name was Cy, LOVED dealing with us.
If you're looking for inspo, would love to learn more about that and other buildings of yesteryear. I used to enjoy following the London history fb group and twitter account, until, well, you know, the racism/boomerism took over.
When I was in high school, the food court in the Galleria was the place to be. People used to go for lunch and spend a lot of time there after school - smoking and having Orange Julius'. lol.
What a great article, I LOVE learning more about the history of buildings, and ye olde downtown mall certainly has more than it's share of stories! Thank you!
Cedric, such a great read. Also, I love the comments so far and I'm going to share some memories too. In the winter and spring of 1990 I signed up for a camp leadership training course run by the then YMCA/YWCA of London. It was every Tuesday evening and, in those days, I could travel by Via Rail from Woodstock to London (return) for less than $15. Believe it or not, this included a meal, too. Upon arrival to London, and after a non-negotiable trip to Novacks, I would explore the Galleria Mall. Levis, Swatch Watch, a store that sold only things that were completely black in colour - does anyone remember the name of that store? Then I'd spend too many quarters at Ace Arcade and possibly have some KFC in the food court which is now (ironically?) Goodlife Fitness for dinner number 2, as teenagers do, I would head over to the "new" Y on Waterloo street for that course in leadership. Thanks for this trip down memory lane!
It’s interesting that with hindsight a mixed use purpose is assigned to a building which no occupies two central blocks of a city that were already, well, mixed use. Except this building almost certainly drove out the residential part of that mix. The only thing going to restore downtown is people living there.
Good article, but I want to tell you at the Central Library, 2nd floor washrooms are now also permanently open to the public during operating hours.
Great article, Cedric. Thank you. As someone who moved to London in 2020, during COVID, your work here and in your previous 'stack has done a lot to educate me about the city outside of Byron. And you are correct, Citi Plaza has a lot of potential for a third life in downtown.
Great column!
The effort you put into these pieces is always impressive. This "mall" has had a soft spot in my heart - my first job was in a dollar store where Dollarama is now, called The Silver Dollar, back in 1999.
The mall was hopping back then, with Eatons and The Bay still open, Original Kids Theatre Co rehearsal space beside us, a full fledged food court upstairs in the breezeway going over king st, and so much more.
One year, they even hosted the main court of a 3 on 3 tournament (pretty sure it was hoop it up) in the centre area outside what is now central library.
Miss those days!
Oh, and London Mews/Smugglers Alley was still a thing in 1998ish across the street, but from what I can remember at that point only had the upstairs movie theatre. They used to have $2 second run movies there, and the theatre emptied onto the rooftop, which then had a staircase down to the street level. Being 15 year old d-bags, we used to sneak extra condiment packages from the concession stand and try to sneak attack people walking by below. The 70+ year old security guard, who I think's name was Cy, LOVED dealing with us.
If you're looking for inspo, would love to learn more about that and other buildings of yesteryear. I used to enjoy following the London history fb group and twitter account, until, well, you know, the racism/boomerism took over.
When I was in high school, the food court in the Galleria was the place to be. People used to go for lunch and spend a lot of time there after school - smoking and having Orange Julius'. lol.
What a great article, I LOVE learning more about the history of buildings, and ye olde downtown mall certainly has more than it's share of stories! Thank you!
Cedric, such a great read. Also, I love the comments so far and I'm going to share some memories too. In the winter and spring of 1990 I signed up for a camp leadership training course run by the then YMCA/YWCA of London. It was every Tuesday evening and, in those days, I could travel by Via Rail from Woodstock to London (return) for less than $15. Believe it or not, this included a meal, too. Upon arrival to London, and after a non-negotiable trip to Novacks, I would explore the Galleria Mall. Levis, Swatch Watch, a store that sold only things that were completely black in colour - does anyone remember the name of that store? Then I'd spend too many quarters at Ace Arcade and possibly have some KFC in the food court which is now (ironically?) Goodlife Fitness for dinner number 2, as teenagers do, I would head over to the "new" Y on Waterloo street for that course in leadership. Thanks for this trip down memory lane!
It’s interesting that with hindsight a mixed use purpose is assigned to a building which no occupies two central blocks of a city that were already, well, mixed use. Except this building almost certainly drove out the residential part of that mix. The only thing going to restore downtown is people living there.
Not no, but now. One finger typing in tiny text boxes.