| Location | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1954 |
| Management | 20 VIC Management Inc. |
| Owner | Capital City Shopping Centre Ltd. |
| No. of stores and services | 85 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 2 |
| Total retail floor area | 460,000 sq ft/43,000 m2 |
| Parking | 1519 spaces |
| No. of floors | 2 |
| Website | http://www.billingsbridgeplaza.com |
The Billings Bridge Plaza is a shopping centre located in Ottawa, Canada. Originally built in 1954, it was the first shopping centre built in the city. It did not become enclosed until 1972. It is located immediately south of the Rideau River on the corner of Bank Street and Riverside Drive, beside a large athletics complex, the RA Centre. The anchor stores are Zellers and Your Independent Grocer. It is a medium-sized mall by modern standards with 85 stores.[1]
When it was built it had only six stores, of which only Reitmans remains to this day. In 1962 the mall underwent a major expansion to 23 stores which made it the largest shopping centre in Ottawa at the time. Ogilvy's opened a location at Billings Bridge in the 1962. Later it was replaced by Robinson's, which was itself replaced by Zellers in 1996. The second major expansion came in 1975, which saw the addition of an office tower housing federal government offices. In February 2008, the Loblaws store (which had been one of the original stores) was rebranded as Your Independent Grocer (another of Loblaw Companies' brands).
The shopping centre was extensively refurbished in 1999. A large new atrium and food court were added. In July 2006 another major renovation programme was started, expanding by 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2). Construction was completed in 2007. It consisted of adding many new stores and a renovation of the food court, removing the bridge and replacing it with Ben and Jerry's and Printwell. This construction changed the whole atmosphere on the first floor. There is now significantly more light than before.
6.2 million people visit Billings Bridge annually. At 450,000 square feet (42,000 m2), it earns C$543 (2003) per square foot (C$5800/m²), up from C$332 per square foot (C$3600/m²) in 1998. Capital City Shopping Centre Ltd. has owned the plaza since 1962, when they bought it from the original developers. It is the 9th largest mall in Ottawa in terms of retail area, and the 6th largest in terms of number of stores.
The shopping centre is located on the Transitway, and serves as a major hub for OC Transpo bus services. The station is called Billings Bridge.
Billings Bridge is named after Braddish Billings, an original settler of Ottawa. The bridge carrying Bank Street over the river, near the site of the current mall, came to be known as Billings' Bridge as it led to his property.
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