Westgate Shopping Centre (Ottawa)
Westgate Shopping Centre is a small scale shopping centre in West Ottawa bordering Carling Avenue, Merivale Road, and Highway 417, owned by RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust.
The mall opened May 12, 1955 and is considered Ottawa's first shopping centre.[1] 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 Westgate boasted that it had parking for over 1200 cars, weather-protected shopping and music for its customers.[2]
At its opening some of the stores that were in the mall were Freimans, Steinberg's, Tip Top Tailors, Reitmans, Kiddytown and a branch of Royal Bank of Canada. The Royal Bank is the last original tenant.
A proposed reconstruction would have the mall demolished and replaced with a commercial and residential building.[3]
Tenants
Current tenants include:
- OttawaGold.ca
- Canada Post
- Dollar Plus
- * Pet Valu (pet supplies store)
- Rockin' Johnny's Diner (chain's first location; opened in 1991)
- Royal Bank of Canada
- TD Canada Trust
- Shoppers Drug Mart
- Robillard Hearing Centres
Transit services
Westgate Shopping Centre is served by the following routes: 85 101 151 176
- Crosstown route 85 doesn't actually enter the mall itself, but is available on nearby Carling Avenue. This route provides connections to downtown Ottawa, Ottawa's Little Italy, the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, Ottawa Civic Hospital, Carlingwood Mall, Lincoln Fields Shopping Centre, and Bayshore Shopping Centre.
- Crosstown route 101 operates 6 days/week. It doesn't enter the mall itself, but is available on nearby Carling Avenue. This route provides connections to Place d'Orleans Shopping Centre (peak periods only), Gloucester Centre (peak periods only), St. Laurent Shopping Centre, Hurdman Station, Ottawa's Grand Central Bus Station, the Ottawa Civic Hospital, the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, and Bayshore Shopping Centre.
- Local route 151 operates Monday-Friday only. During the AM peak, northbound buses towards Westboro and Tunney's Pasture don't enter the mall. The same is true for southbound buses during the PM peak. Outside of these periods, buses connect passengers to the communities of Tunney's Pasture, Westboro, Carlington, and Skyline.
- Route 176 operates 7 days/week. During peak periods, buses don't enter the shopping centre, but is available at the nearby intersection of Merivale Road and Carling Avenue. This route provides connections to Hurdman (peak periods only), downtown Ottawa (peak periods only), Gatineau (at Lebreton Station), Tunney's Pasture, the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, the Civic Hospital, Barrhaven, Chapman Mills, Nepean Woods, and travels via Holland, Merivale, and Cresthaven.
References
External links
Coordinates: 45°23′13″N 75°44′08″W / 45.38691°N 75.73551°W