Woodbine Centre is a shopping mall in the

Rexdale Rexdale is a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located north-west of the central core, in the district of Etobicoke. Rexdale defines an area of several official neighbourhoods north of Highway 401 and east of Highway 427. Rexdale was orig ...

area of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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 across Rexdale Boulevard from

Woodbine Racetrack Woodbine Racetrack is a race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in the Etobicoke area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Woodbine Entertainment Group, Woodbine Racetrack manages and hosts Canada's most famous race, the King's Plate. The track ...

. The mall has over 130 stores and is home to Fantasy Fair, a year-round indoor

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

. The fair houses a

Charles I. D. Looff Charles I. D. Looff was a German master carver and builder of hand-carved carousels and amusement rides, who immigrated to the United States of America in 1870. Looff built the first carousel at Coney Island in 1876. During his lifetime, he bui ...

carousel. It is one of 13 still in operation today. They also have a 50-foot ferris wheel which they say is the only one in North America.

History

Woodbine Centre was opened in 1985 by developer

Cadillac Fairview The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited is a Canadian company that invests in, owns, and manages commercial real estate, mainly in Canada and the United States. As of March 2017, the company had 73 properties, encompassing 38 million square feet ...

, Its design served as inspiration for property developer Sir John Hall when planning the MetroCentre, the UK's largest shopping mall, in the 1980s. In 2008, proposed development of an entertainment centre at

and the closure of national stores like

Shoppers Drug Mart Shoppers Drug Mart Inc. (named Pharmaprix in Quebec) is a Canadian retail pharmacy chain based in Toronto, Ontario. It has more than 1,300 stores in nine provinces and two territories. The company was founded by pharmacist Murray Koffler in 1962 ...

fuelled rumours that the mall was closing. Instead, then-owners Darton Property planned renovations to washrooms. As of 2016, the assessed value of the property was $96,708,000. Woodbine Mall Holdings Inc. owed over a half-million in unpaid taxes that year.

Fantasy Fair Amusement Park

Fantasy Fair is an indoor amusement park and the largest in

featuring nine full-sized rides: * 1911 Antique Looff

Carousel A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

* Crystal Kaleidoscope – indoor Ferris Wheel (50 ft.) * Ships Ahoy – spinning tea cups * Smash 'n Dash – bumper cars * Fantasy Flight – A 32' Balloon Tower Ride * Fantasy Fair Express Train – mini replica steam engine (driver sits in tender unit) with 3 open air passenger cars (each carrying 8 passengers) * Airforce (plane ride) * Spinner – roller coaster * Simulator * Climbing Wall * Drop Tower * Play Village (indoor playground)

In popular culture

The mall was used in the filming of 1987's "Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol", where David Spade is seen skateboarding through the mall. The mall also featured in the

Animorphs ''Animorphs'' is a science fantasy series of children's books written by Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant, writing together under the name K. A. Applegate, and published by Scholastic. It is told in first person, with all ...

television adaptation's second season episode Changes, Part 2.

References

External links

*
Fantasy Fair
{{Shopping Malls in the Golden Horseshoe Etobicoke Shopping malls in Toronto Shopping malls established in 1985 Amusement parks in Canada Indoor amusement parks Cadillac Fairview 1985 establishments in Ontario