Market Square Shopping Centre is a mall located in the downtown core of Kitchener,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada, whose tenancy skews to services.

History

Built between 1971 and 1973 on the grounds of the original

Kitchener City Hall Kitchener City Hall is the seat of municipal government of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. It has gone through many iterations through the 20th century, culminating in the current building, which opened in 1993. History The original location of ...

Kitchener, Ontario ) , image_flag = Flag of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , image_seal = Seal of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_shield=Coat of arms of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_blank_emblem = Logo of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , blank_emblem_type = ...

, Canada. It was home to an Eaton's (opened in 1973 and later became a

Sears Canada Sears Canada Inc. was a publicly-traded Canadian company affiliated with the American-based Sears department store chain. In operation from 1952 until January 14, 2018, and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, the company began as Simpsons-Sears ...

retail store), and home to the

Kitchener Farmer's Market The Kitchener Farmer's Market is one of the oldest continuous local farmer's markets in Canada. The market is located in Kitchener, Ontario and reflects the continued relationship of Kitchener with the Mennonite community (especially with vendors ...

from 1973 to 2004. A glass clock tower at the corner of King and Frederick Streets pays homage to the former city hall clock tower, which is now located at

Victoria Park, Kitchener Victoria Park is the oldest park in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, situated downtown. It is the site of numerous events and festivities. A Berlin (Kitchener) map from 1879 has a Town Park, located between Mill Street and Highland Road where Highla ...

Decline

The mall has since declined, through the 1990s (with a half empty food court with long time

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

leaving in 2015) as shoppers have fled to larger malls in

Regional Municipality of Waterloo The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumf ...

like Conestoga Mall in Waterloo or

Fairview Park Mall CF Fairview Park (commonly known as Fairview Park Mall) is a large shopping mall of 120 stores in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, owned and managed by Cadillac Fairview.

Cambridge Centre Cambridge Centre is a shopping mall in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. In the 1980s, Hespeler Road became the city's major commercial area, and is now known as the Highway 24/Hespeler Road Commercial District. The main anchor store is a Hudson's Bay ...

to the south. In January 2020,

Conestoga College Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning is a public college located in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1967, Conestoga serves approximately 23,000 registered students through campuses and training centres in ...

opened an campus in the building, occupying about of the centre's space. The other major tenants are

triOS College triOS College is a private career college in the province of Ontario, Canada. triOS College has 8 locations in Ontario, offering diplomas in Business, Technology, Healthcare and Law, with programs varying in length from 26 to 60 weeks, some includ ...

and The Record, the latter of which occupies a former Sears Outlet store. Few retail stores remain in the mall, which is now primarily used as office space. Nordia Inc. operated a call centre on the uppermost floor of the former Eaton's until 2019. The mall has a multi-level indoor parking along Duke Street and a walkway across to Oxlea Tower (22 Frederick Street), a large office tower across Frederick Street. The mall is now owned by Europro Real Estate, which owns a number of buildings in the city's core.

Tenants

* Grill Inn * Mr Wu's * Service Canada *

Laura Mae Lindo Laura Mae Monique Lindo (born 1976) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 provincial election. She represents the electoral district of Kitchener Centre as a member of the Ontario New Democr ...

, MPP, constituency office *

, campus for International Business, effective 2020

Transit Connections

Grand River Transit Grand River Transit (GRT) is the public transport operator for the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It operates daily bus services in the region, primarily in the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge, alongside the I ...

has a number of routes that have stops around the complex: Bus Routes * Route 1 Queen–River via stop on Frederick Street * Route 3 Ottawa South via stop on Frederick Street * Route 4 Glasgow via stop on Frederick Street * Route 7 King via stops on King Street * Route 204 iXpress Highland–Victoria via stops on Frederick Street Light Rail *

ION An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conve ...

light rail 301 at Frederick station

References

{{Kitchener, Ontario Shopping malls in Kitchener, Ontario Defunct shopping malls in Canada Shopping malls established in 1973 1973 establishments in Ontario