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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The mall is fantastic for sure! But if you pay attention to the building, structure, finishes, etc. it is getting very dated. Most of the floors in the mall are still the original slat 80’s diamond fleck pattern that were in every mall back in the day. (I have not seen this floor still present in any mall or office building to date) The windows and dome in the waterpark are horrifically old with fog, rust, and mold present everywhere. The exterior jist looks blah. The parking lots are dirty and havent been swept in years. There isnt even parking lines present in most areas. The lighting in the lots at night is gloomy and dark. Most of the mall is just gloomy to walk around as well in my opinion.
Next time your at WEM have a look at some of the building features, walkways, exterior, parkade, etc. and you will know what I’m talking about.
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