Westgate Shopping Centre is a

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

in the

Carlington Carlington is a neighbourhood located in River Ward in the west-end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The community association boundaries are Clyde Avenue to the west, Carling Avenue and the Queensway to the north, Fisher Avenue to the east and th ...

neighbourhood of

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

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 Ca ...

, Canada. It is located southwest of downtown, bordering

Carling Avenue Carling Avenue is a major east–west arterial road in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It runs from March Road in Kanata to Bronson Avenue in the Glebe. The road is named for John Carling, founder of Carling Brewery and Conservative M ...

Merivale Road Merivale Road is an arterial road in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It starts at Island Park Drive just north of Highway 417 and continues south until it ends at Prince of Wales Drive in Rideau Glen. South of Clyde Avenue, Merivale is ...

, and

Highway 417 The following highways are numbered 417: Canada * Manitoba Provincial Road 417 * Newfoundland and Labrador Route 417 * Ontario Highway 417 Costa Rica * National Route 417 Iceland * Route 417 Japan * Japan National Route 417 United States * ...

, owned by

RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust is the second-largest real estate investment trust (REIT) in Canada. It has an enterprise value of approximately $14 billion, and owns 289 primarily retail properties, with a net leasable area of 44 million ...

. The mall opened May 12, 1955, and is considered Ottawa's first shopping centre. The anchor of the mall was Freiman's department store, owned by Lawrence Freiman who already had a department store on Rideau Street. In advertising for its

grand opening An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

, Westgate boasted that it had parking for over 1200 cars, weather-protected shopping and music for its customers. Other stores included Steinberg's,

Tip Top Tailors Tip Top Tailors is a Canadian retail clothing chain, selling primarily menswear: suits, tuxedos , casual wear, sportswear and outerwear; as well, most stores have an in-house tailor (provides tailoring for clothing purchased within the store). T ...

, a movie theater,

Reitmans Reitmans Canada Ltd. is a Canadian retailing company, specializing in women's clothing. The company operates several store brands, includinReitmans Royal Bank of Canada Royal Bank of Canada (RBC; french: Banque royale du Canada) is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 17 million clients and has more than 89,000& ...

. The Royal Bank is the only remaining original tenant. The mall is served by

OC Transpo OC Transpo, officially the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission, is the public transit agency for the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It operates an integrated hub-and-spoke system including light metro, bus rapid transit, conventional ...

routes 55, 80, 81 and 85. A proposed redevelopment plans to have the mall demolished and replaced in phases with high-rise commercial and residential buildings. The first phase began in November 2019 with the demolition of Monkey Joe's Restaurant on the south-east corner of the property.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Shopping malls in Ottawa Shopping malls established in 1955 1955 establishments in Ontario