[Mr. Rexdale]

Despite living next door to a Price Chopper and Fortinos on Albion road, my family made frequent drives to Knob Hill Farms every other weekend, it seemed.
The deals on steaks and other meat products were just too good to pass up.

Who can forget the fountain out front? or the wall murals by the cashier (which also doubled as a restaurant, if I recall)? Of course, the main attraction for me
as a youngster was seeing the trains deliver food products to the terminal.

Sadly, my last memory of Knob Hill was the terminal being converted into a Liquidation outlet in the late 90's - early 2000's In a way, the former Zellers in Rexdale
Plaza now is essentially suffering the same fate.. Just a prolonged fate that never seems to end.

In the next 20 years, I can see Rexdale Plaza repurposed as a condominium, too.

 

[Mr. Rexdale]

Copied over from the Woodbine Centre thread. With $333 million dollars in unpaid loans, plus another $30 million in unpaid taxes,
the fate of the Rexdale Mall is now in question.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-romspen-private-mortgage-courts/

After nearly 70 years in the neighbourhood, this could be the final nail that brings an end to the Rexdale Mall once and for all.

 

[Vaucluse]

Does anyone recall the underground parking at Rexdale Plaza? It's under the north building that used to be Towers/Zellers. I just rode my bike there and did a roll through the parking, only the first level is accessible, I believe that there's three levels. I remember as a child my parents parking on the 2nd level and that there was a ramp further down but that's all.
My questions are: how many levels are there? Why make underground parking anyway?
There area was greenfield, one level under a store may make sense but three levels? Why the expense of going underground?

 

[Mr. Rexdale]

Does anyone recall the underground parking at Rexdale Plaza? It's under the north building that used to be Towers/Zellers. I just rode my bike there and did a roll through the parking, only the first level is accessible, I believe that there's three levels. I remember as a child my parents parking on the 2nd level and that there was a ramp further down but that's all.
My questions are: how many levels are there? Why make underground parking anyway?
There area was greenfield, one level under a store may make sense but three levels? Why the expense of going underground?

Underground parking was added to the Rexdale Mall during the mall's enclosure in 1972. Towers was added as an extension during the mall's renovations, with Dominion sitting as an anchor at the opposite end
of the mall.

With Dominion, a 'space-age' conveyor belt system brought groceries down to the underground parking lot. I can't recall how many floors either end had. Though, I did find these photos
displaying the underground parking lot where Dollarama/Walmart now reside. The photos were taken during the mall's second demolition in February of 2004:

The underground parking lot where Dominion used to reside. The above photo shows Burrard rd. on the right.

From the looks of it, the parking garage had two floors.

A zoomed-out shot of the same location.

Why install underground parking? At one point in time, the Rexdale Mall was once a popular shopping destination in Rexdale. Major chains like Towers, Woolco
Coles and Dominion brought in a lot of shoppers. The only competition Rexdale Mall had was Kmart opening up in the nearby Albion Mall.

Yet, no other mall in the area that I can think of has underground parking. I guess Rexdale Mall served as an example for everyone else.

 

[Towered]

This mall was already a totally dated dump way back in the 80's when it still had an Eaton's. It had absolutely nothing on Sherway at the time.

 

[Mr. Rexdale]

This mall was already a totally dated dump way back in the 80's when it still had an Eaton's. It had absolutely nothing on Sherway at the time.

Rexdale Mall became dated as soon as Albion Mall installed a movie theatre in the mid 60's. Then a food court in the late 90's.
While other malls in the area continued to grow, the aging Rexdale mall just couldn't keep up.

Random mall memory: when my brother and I were about six years old, we were hanging around the escalator near Eaton's.
I remember asking my mom if we could "play on the escalator". At the same time, a man in a suit was coming up from the
underground parking garage. The man looked at us and responded with a simple "no".

I like to think of that man in the brown suit as our Rexdale Mall guardian angel.

 

[Mr. Rexdale]

Might as well bring up the latest news in regards to Rexdale Mall's future here as well:

Toronto's Rexdale Mall for sale in receivership process

Ernst & Young Inc. has been appointed receiver and manager to operate, market and sell the Rexdale Mall in Toronto's west-end Etobicoke neighbourhood. It is part of wider receivership proceedings which include Woodbine Mall and 1500 Birchmount Business Park.

renx.ca

Certain sites list Rexdale Mall as part of the 'SmartCentres Rexdale', which is actually incorrect. The SmartCentres only accounts for the area between the old Zellers
building and Walmart.

As we touched on in the past, the owner of the Rexdale Mall also owns the troubled Woodbine Centre. Both properties are in the process of being sold through a court
-ordered receivership in lieu of unpaid loan arrangements.

 

[Mr. Rexdale]

Thanks to Eugenio Arcilesi of Vintage Rexdale for this 1965 coloured photo of Rexdale Mall looking south towards Chilcot Ave.

Eugenio was also kind enough to provide this accompanying photo from 1965 of the Candy Time shop in Rexdale Mall.
See if you can spot the old Sears water tower in the window's reflection.

 

[Imperial_21]

Does anyone know if there is a project in effect that would recreate the Rexdale Plaza in 3D to be viewed from the browser or something similar? Personally, I have an interest to recreate it in 3D as a hobby, nothing official, as I don't have the skills like some in Unreal Engine or Unity. For this I will need a lot of data - from the layout of the mall during the early 2000s before it was demolished, and all the stores that were there.

 

[Mr. Rexdale]

Does anyone know if there is a project in effect that would recreate the Rexdale Plaza in 3D to be viewed from the browser or something similar? Personally, I have an interest to recreate it in 3D as a hobby, nothing official, as I don't have the skills like some in Unreal Engine or Unity. For this I will need a lot of data - from the layout of the mall during the early 2000s before it was demolished, and all the stores that were there.

You would be the first person to ever tackle such a project, as to my knowledge. I'll have to ask a Rexdale archivist friend of mine and inquire if he has an early 2000's, pre-demolition store list or not.

The following graph isn't to scale or 100 percent accurate, but was compiled from my few recollections of visiting the Rexdale Plaza in 2003 before the mall was demolished.

By 2003, most of the stores had already closed. Other than Dollarama, the majority of the stores towards Eatons were all empty storefronts. Discount outlets and dollar stores made up the Rexdale
Plaza in it's final months.

On weekends, Rexdale Plaza was converted into an indoor flea market. Wooden tables and vendors occupied the entire hallway from one anchor to the other.

The Escalator towards Eatons led to an underground parking garage and more stores. In decades past, those stores were a Bargain Harold's and a bowling alley. I don't recall what the stores were
at the end of the Rexdale's lifespan. Likewise, the staircase towards the Rexdale Snackbar led to more offices and stores. I've heard in the 80's and early 90's, a Vic Tanny's gym used to exist there.

If memory serves me correctly, the discount outlet next to Shoppers Drug Mart used to be a BiWay, but was switched out when the chain went out of business in 2001.

The back entrance along Burrard is a partition of the mall that has haunted my dreams for years. It was a long corridor that stretched from the back parking lot into the mall itself. White stones made
up the hallway with black silhouettes of shoppers on the right; and similar outlines of famous world landmarks on the left. With their permed haircuts, ample usage of neon colours, and choice of fashion,
even as a kid I knew the paintings were outdated when I visited the mall on and off in the early 1990's.

 

[Imperial_21]

You would be the first person to ever tackle such a project, as to my knowledge. I'll have to ask a Rexdale archivist friend of mine and inquire if he has an early 2000's, pre-demolition store list or not.

The following graph isn't to scale or 100 percent accurate, but was compiled from my few recollections of visiting the Rexdale Plaza in 2003 before the mall was demolished.



View attachment 626033
By 2003, most of the stores had already closed. Other than Dollarama, the majority of the stores towards Eatons were all empty storefronts. Discount outlets and dollar stores made up the Rexdale
Plaza in it's final months.

On weekends, Rexdale Plaza was converted into an indoor flea market. Wooden tables and vendors occupied the entire hallway from one anchor to the other.

The Escalator towards Eatons led to an underground parking garage and more stores. In decades past, those stores were a Bargain Harold's and a bowling alley. I don't recall what the stores were
at the end of the Rexdale's lifespan. Likewise, the staircase towards the Rexdale Snackbar led to more offices and stores. I've heard in the 80's and early 90's, a Vic Tanny's gym used to exist there.

If memory serves me correctly, the discount outlet next to Shoppers Drug Mart used to be a BiWay, but was switched out when the chain went out of business in 2001.

The back entrance along Burrard is a partition of the mall that has haunted my dreams for years. It was a long corridor that stretched from the back parking lot into the mall itself. White stones made
up the hallway with black silhouettes of shoppers on the right; and similar outlines of famous world landmarks on the left. With their permed haircuts, ample usage of neon colours, and choice of fashion,
even as a kid I knew the paintings were outdated when I visited the mall on and off in the early 1990's.

Acquiring that information about these stores would be extremely helpful. Considering what you mentioned, by 2003 most stores had already been closed. So I think the best bet is to have information on the stores that were there between 1995-2003. And having that list of the transition from what store was there prior to the store that came after before the Rexdale Plaza was shut down.

I had no idea there were stores in the basement, or especially that there was a bowling alley. I was told there was that gym that used to be there, which I also had no idea. I do recall though that there was a doctor's office there in the lower section. If I were to make a rough sketch of the mall layout I would completely miss out on the back entrance as it is something I completely forgot. Then again, I was a child during the 90s.

The back section of the mall, from that back entrance to Eatons I recall there was a bank and a postal office. What came after that was either one or two other stores before Eatons. I also recall in that back section, between the library and the bank there was a small central shop where they sold clothing or something. I have this specific image in mind from childhood for some reason of the Scorpions band t-shirt - who I had no idea about really. It just remained there for some reason. I don't know if this same shop was also a small photo studio or not but I recall my parents handing over photo film roll for the photos to be developed.

After the library, towards the back section I recall there was some type of a store where they sold some jewelry, not the real stuff, it was simple necklaces, bracelets and such, and they also sold suitcases. It was a narrow store. I don't remember clearly if it came right after the library or after the Furniture Clearance store you have on the layout there. That section in my memory has missing data as I never paid much attention to those stores in that specific area.

From what I'm also able to remember, from the front entrance you looked directly towards a hair salon. To the left side from the entrance were payphones. There was that Rexdale Snack Bar between that wall and the barber shop. I know somewhere near the barber shop was a Radio Shack. Next do Shoppers Drug Mart, to the right, if I'm correct, I recall there being a huge store, which was across from BiWay (which, as mentioned, had become Dollarama). I don't remember the store name, but it later in the early 2000s became Asia Food. This store had things from clothing, to electronics, to toys. I remember a bit when you enter this store, to the far left there were toys, near the electronics section, the general section of the store was clothing. I don't remember how the rest of the store was. But that's from little I recall, I may be wrong with those specific details.

From the left entrance to the mall, I recall there being a few stores on the right, among them being the barber shop. I recall there also being some type of store which sold weaves or something. The rest of it along the way on the right in the direction of the front entrance I don't recall what other stores there were. I don't even remember the toy store you have listed there. I never seemed to have focused much on that section as a kid.

As for the left side from the side entrance where the Catalina Bar & Grill used to be, I don't remember the stores that came after. I remember a large section of the wall being peach/tan color, with a white line along the mid-section. What I'm also trying to remember is if there was a small shop of some type along the center of the corridor between the side entrance and the Rexdale Snack Bar, or if it was just a clear area.

 

[Mr. Rexdale]

Here is a store directory of Rexdale Plaza from 2000 courtesy of our friend Eugenio Arcilesi:

 

[Imperial_21]

Here is a store directory of Rexdale Plaza from 2000 courtesy of our friend Eugenio Arcilesi:

View attachment 626773

View attachment 626772

View attachment 626771

Thank you! Now it's all about piecing together where they were in order. This helps out.

 

[Imperial_21]

It is in the making. Some of the stores have not been added as it is unclear how many of them there are in the lower sections. And have not added the snack bar and the other shop along the center of the corridor towards the back where the escalators are.

 

[SubHuman]

... Red Barn restaurant...

I don't remember if I was ever inside one of them as a kid, but there were a lot of them at some point in the 1970s, with a former one in Mississauga being the only building left in that recognizable form that I've seen in recent decades.

Red Barn (restaurant) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org