History
The mall opened on February 26, 1964, under ownership from the Trizec Corporation. It was the first mall to include two major Canadian department stores: Simpson's and Eaton's, under the same roof. At the time of its opening, it was the largest shopping centre in the world. However, the Ala Moana Center in Honolulu, Hawaii took this title as the largest mall in the world just two years after Yorkdale opened. Yorkdale generated a tremendous amount of excitement when it first opened. Before large suburban malls like Yorkdale became popular, most people in the Toronto area did their major shopping downtown. Yorkdale was at the edge of the urbanized city, with only farmland around it. It was strategically located next to the interchange of Highway 401 and the proposed Spadina Expressway, as well as the nearby Dufferin Street, and all three major routes now have ramps dedicated to serving the mall. Yorkdale Road forms the perimeter of the north and east sides of the mall. A subway station on the Spadina line that runs in the median section of Allen Road (formerly the Spadina Expressway), and an intercity bus terminal was later connected to Yorkdale by way of a footbridge.
Its gross leasable area (GLA) was over 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2), by far the biggest in Canada. Parking is still free, and now includes a total of 7,200 spaces. The shopping centre has a 60-foot (18 m) tall atrium, 40-foot (12 m) wide halls and 27-foot (8.2 m) tall ceilings which was, and still is, rare. As a result, Yorkdale is much less susceptible to overcrowding and stuffiness that have plagued more contemporary shopping mall designs. The corridors still retain this look and feel although renovations in 2006 replaced the ceilings, windows, and skylights.
The mall was constructed with a novel system for its retailers to receive merchandise. Most shopping centres have their receiving doors located at the back side, while Yorkdale was constructed with a one-way, two-laned road for trucks running beneath the centre that leads directly to retailers' basement storages.
The statue in the west parking lot was originally located at the base of the CN Tower.
Read more about this topic: Yorkdale Shopping Centre
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