Opening of West Edmonton Mall
On September 15 1981, Edmonton had a population of just a hair over 500,000 people. However, after this date, this relatively unknown northern city located in Alberta, Canada would be changed forever.
Once a location with no international attention, what occurred on this day would thrust Edmonton into the spotlight – Edmonton would become a city featuring a world-reaching tourist destination.
West Edmonton Mall opened its doors for the first time.
Upon opening for the first time, the mall spread out over 25 hectares (~62 acres) and was an already sizeable 106,000 square meters (1.1 million sq. ft.) in size.
The mall contained 220 stores, services and retail locations. Housing three anchor tenants:
- The Hudson’s Bay Company, known then as ‘The Bay’ and today as ‘Hudson’s Bay’
- Eaton’s (Now defunct)
- Sears (Now defunct)
The opening celebrations consisted of a ribbon cutting ceremony, accompanied by speeches from by many of the heads of the major retail tenants, and a plethora of prizes including a trip to Fiji, a 45 inch television, and thousands of dollars worth of gift certificates. Nightly fireworks were also displayed at 10 pm during the opening weekend.
The original Phase of West Edmonton Mall 
Phase I of West Edmonton Mall was the last to feature real trees.
The mall, whose area is known today as ‘Phase 1’, was little more than a large shopping center. It was by no means a small or insignificant one, as it was already Canada’s largest, however it was indeed still just a retail location which garnered mainly local media attention. What would put the mall, and all of Edmonton, on the map, was still to come…
bestedmontonmall.com 
Do you have any pictures of what used to be in the waterpark before the Dolphin Kiddie pool and before the Caribbean Cove? I kind of remember possibly like a rock bridge with a net above it? I remember thinking that each were new at one point but can’t remember what was there before!
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