Lawrence Plaza
| Location | 534 Lawrence Avenue West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
|---|---|
| Opening date | 1953 |
| Owner | Lawrence Plaza Equities |
| No. of stores and services | 30 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 2 |
| No. of floors | 1 to 2 floors |
Lawrence Plaza is a shopping centre in Canada located on the northwest corner of Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue West in Toronto. It is also the name of a small shopping plaza in Santa Clara, California serving the Korean community with a grocery store, bakery, coffee shop, and a food court; this article describes the shopping centre in Toronto.
History
It was built around 1953 and was visited by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1950s. The land was still cow pastures in 1951 as the homes in the area were being built in the 1950s.[1] The mall serves the neighbourhood of Lawrence Manor.
The plaza consists of a single level with offices on the second floor, except for the two-level building on the corner, which was originally occupied by Morgan's and then the Hudson's Bay Company (The Bay), the Dominion Save-a-Centre, Metro and Winners.
The kosher-style (but not kosher) dairy restaurant United Bakers moved to the plaza in 1986.
Around 1995, a major renovation was planned that would have resulted in a staged demolition and rebuild of the entire premises. This renovation was cancelled and no additional parking has been added to the mall since its construction.
It is served by two Toronto Transit Commission bus stops on Lawrence Avenue directly adjacent to the plaza, and two more stops on Bathurst Street. In addition, there is a local wheelchair-accessible community bus stop within the plaza, and the Lawrence West subway station is nearby.
Former tenants
- Morgan's 1953-1964; rebrand as The Bay
- The Bay - (store location) split into Winners and Dominion Save-a-Centre
- Dominion rebranded as Metro after 2008
- Sportmart - opened in the Bay location briefly before the chain left Canada and became Dominion location
See also
Other strip plazas in Toronto include:
- Cedarbrae Mall, Scarborough - open 1961 and converted into indoor mall 1971
- Eglinton Square Shopping Centre open 1954
- Golden Mile Mall - open mid 1950s and redeveloped after 1980s fire
- Honeydale Mall, Etobicoke - open 1974
References
External links
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Coordinates: 43°43′11″N 79°25′54″W / 43.71972°N 79.43167°W