The thing about the Kingsgate Mall at Broadway and Kingsway is you either love it or you hate it. It’s weird or wonderful, strange or quaint, creepy or quirky, but it rarely goes unnoticed.
From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History
The cupola (a replica of the one that used to top King Edward School before the fire) has turned the mall into a landmark, but I can’t imagine calling it a destination by any stretch of the imagination. Aside from a dental surgery and a credit union, one of the only stores not found in most other shopping malls is the Lolli Pretty Clothing Company. As of today, the store has 566 Facebook followers and the fabulous tagline “Your Candy Store of Fashion.”
Mount Pleasant Elementary:
When the mall was built in 1974, it took out the Mount Pleasant Elementary School, an 80-year-old solid brick building built in 1892, and originally known as the False Creek School.
What somehow escaped the bulldozer, was a ca.1907 buried house at 350 East 10th Avenue, directly behind the mall and adjoining a Telus parking lot.
When the Mount Pleasant school was demolished in 1972 the kids moved into a new school at 2300 Guelph, and which is still very much in operation.
the Land:
The land underneath the mall is owned by the Vancouver School Board and has been since the late 1880s. The VSB in turn leases the land to Beedie Development Group and they operate the mall. No surprise that Beedie would like to buy the mall, pull it down and redevelop the land.
Perhaps the pinned tweet on the unofficial twitter Kingsgate Mall account says it all: “STILL NOT A CONDO.”
Related:
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22 comments on “What was here before? The Kingsgate Mall”
Ive been in that mall and it is not memorable. This might be the first time my sentimental grip on the past is not working.
The perpetually in need of money VSB should bulldoze and develop or sell and allow developers to build.
It had to happen eventually Doug. As always, thanks so much for taking the time to comment!
Traffic along Broadway near Kingsway is such a frustration. Still, I say build a better strip mall (surface parking!) with four stories of housing, no higher. I would prefer that to a hulking condo tower with a struggling retail podium on that corner.
Thank you for the post and interesting photos, Eve! I never knew what was there before. When the mall was built I was 14. I think I’ve been inside one time.
I recall the old Mount Pleasant school was demolished in 1972 or so to make way for Kingsgate Mall. The black and white historic photo of the original Mount Pleasant school was taken from the top of the Lee Building at Main and Broadway. Unfortunately today there is a huge mega condo tower built in the line of sight that blocks the view preventing taking of a then-and-now comparison photo.
We used to ride our bikes down to what we called Nightingale School at that location from Charles Dickens elementary off of Kingsway at Glen Drive ,, to take woodworking for an hour and a half and then ride back to finish the days lessons.This was in the mid fifties.
Nightingale Elementary is still a school, but it isn’t at that location, it’s at St. George & 12th Ave.
This mall is important to those who use it , a community that I see everyday.Those who do find a sense of comfort within.I never feel unsafe, or threatened,.a sense of pride, in the midst of poverty and displacement.
There was also a public comfort station
ie : public restrooms at the corner of Broadway and Kingsway, never used it as a kid because I was scared
of the creeps that lurked around them, but as I grew up and went to pubs they a great relief of a belly full of beer.
i love the mall… very friendly and sorry about all the snobs above… has community events and lots of variety… buy low is great!!! and a place for some small independent business…
Hi Alex, thanks for stopping by. I think all in all the comments are mostly positive about the mall. I’ve never been there, but now I will definitely make a point of it.
VSB doesn’t get the money from the sale if the land is sold. It goes to the government rather than the VSB. It’s of no benefit to the VSB to sell the property.
I don’t know how anyone could find Kingsgate not memorable. I’ve never seen another mall like it. It’s even inspired a Vice article and a song you can find on Youtube.
Personally, I go there on a regular basis and would be sad to see it go.
The Kingsgate Mall is weird AND wonderful, quirky AND quaint, etc., but most importantly, a vital community service. There’s a liquor store, a Shopper’s, the Buy-Low, a florist and a few small shops necessary for a thriving neighbourhood. Haters gonna hate, but after living in the nabe for the last six years, I’ve come to love it’s low-key charm. It also provides someplace safe and dry for those less fortunate. It feels like a “real” place to me and it would be a shame to lose it.
I have never been to Kingsgate Mall, but back in the nineties my sister Kathy Butts had a communications business (“Carrot Communications”) and for some years Kingsgate was a client…..for publishing a community newsletter/newspaper. If I remember right it was full of local stories, event information etc. I remember that she found the management staff there exceedingly friendly and community-oriented, and she enjoyed going there to get the flavor of the place etc. Sadly she passed away in 1999, so she can’t contribute to this. Somewhere I have a box full of samples of some of her work from that time…maybe there are a few samples of the Kingsgate material….
Kingsgate Mall has everything you could need in a mall! It has a quirky charm that I find lacking in other “fancy” malls. Shoppers Drug Mart, Mark’s Work Warehouse, Payless Shoes, a florist, jewellery store, dollar store, liquor store, insurance office, ladies’ clothing, and a lottery kiosk – these are just a few of the useful businesses you can visit! How many malls carry sugar cane juice? The bathrooms are a bit sketchy, but usually functional. Go upstairs to Buy-Low, which always seems to have yogurt on sale; the smell of fresh bread hits you as soon as you walk in, and you feel at home. Near the Buy-Low is a Shoppers Drug Mart medical supply outlet! The toy store carries a lot of cool stuff – not just for kids. I’m glad that Kingsgate Mall lacks a Starbucks (well, there is one across the street). It’s a non-pretentious, friendly place to spend an hour or two. I don’t live close by, but I don’t mind making the 30-minute bus ride, ’cause they have everything I need.
I love this mall – and not in an ironic way. It’s not really enough to entice me to spend too much money, just enough to fill some core needs (prescriptions, post office, groceries, wine, and just a little fun for the kids at the book/toy store). I’ll miss it when it goes!
Sounds like some great reasons to me.
Mount Pleasant Elementary School was a beautiful building indide and out. It was demolished to make way for Kingsgste Mall. The new school built to replace it was already too small before it opened. Characterless of course.
I was a pupil of both the old and new Mt. Pleasant school. I wish they had a shot of the grand central double staircase that was inside the old school’s main building.
I didn’t realize the mall was only built in 1974. I worked in the mall in the mid to late 70’s, first at Sweet Sixteen and then at the Fields Store. Once in awhile, had dinner at Mr. Mike’s Restaurant. It seemed most employees from the various shops knew one another-it was a small “community”.
Although the stores in the mall have changed over the years, the mall itself still looks much the same, just older. The neighbourhood itself has changed dramatically though. So much development!
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I’ve been inside the mall maby 3 times. Nice mall. But I attended Mt. Pleasant Elementary from the middle 50s to middle 60s. I started in kindergarden to grade 7 although I’m sure it was one of the last schools that went to grade 12. might be wrong. It was such an interesting, fabulous building. I wished I had pictures of the inside structures especially the middle staircase and dungenous basement lol