FAIRVIEW POINTE-CLAIRE CENTRE
Boulevard St. Jean and Boulevard Brunswick
City of Pointe-Claire, Quebec
One of Quebec's earliest fully-enclosed shopping hubs, FAIRVIEW POINTE-CLAIRE CENTRE was built on an 82.8-acre plot, located 13.3 miles southwest of Montreal's urban core. The complex was developed by a joint venture of Toronto-based Simpson's and the Montreal-based Fairview Corporation (via its CEMP Holdings subsidiary).
FAIRVIEW POINTE-CLAIRE CENTRE was designed by the Bregman & Hamann firm of Toronto and Seattle's John Graham, Junior. The complex was anchored by a 2-level (160,000 square foot) Simpson's and 2-level (153,300 square foot) Eaton's. Junior anchors were Pascal Hardware, Ogilvy's apparel, an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10 and Steinberg supermarket.
The 14.5 million dollar mall was officially dedicated on August 12, 1965 . It spanned approximately 662,400 leasable square feet. There were originally fifty-two stores, with the fully-leased complex housing a total of seventy. Although the mall was predominantly a single-level structure, it did include a small upper floor with a mall office and 500-seat Public Auditorium.
Charter tenants included Reitman's ladies' wear, Tip Top Tailors, Holt Renfrew, Toronto-Dominion Bank and the Fairview Pharmacy. The Famous Players Fairview Cinema 2, a freestanding structure built in the west parking area, showed first features on October 7, 1966.
Some of the mall's original decor included a "Rain Fountain" in the East (Simpson's) Court. A Clock Tower stood in Centre Court, with a "Jet Fountain" being the focal point of West (Eaton's) Court. Several objets d'art were also located throughout the mall, and on exterior plazas. The most noteworthy of these, a 17-foot-high replica of Michaelangelo's Statue of David, stood in an interior mallway space. Its full-frontal nudity incited a great deal of controversy. The sculpture was unceremoniously removed in January of 1966.
FAIRVIEW POINTE-CLAIRE CENTRE was the first of the Fairview Corporation's four Fashion Centre malls. In order of their completion, these were FAIRVIEW POINTE-CLAIRE CENTRE (1965), LES GALERIES D'ANJOU (1968), CARREFOUR LAVAL (1974) and LES PROMENADE SAINT-BRUNO (1978).
Competing centres on the Island of Montreal included ROCKLAND CENTRE (1959) {9.7 miles northeast, in Mount Royal}, CAVENDISH MALL (1973) {8 miles east, in Cote Saint-Luc} and PLACE VERTU (1975) {5.9 miles northeast, in Saint-Laurent}.
Following Canada's adoption of bilingualism (English and French) in 1969, the nameplates of the two FAIRVIEW POINTE-CLAIRE anchor stores were given small alterations. In accordance with French, where there are no possessive nouns, the apostrophes in the trademarks were omitted. Eaton's became "Eaton" in 1970. Simpson's became "Simpsons" in 1972 and was altered to "Simpson," in 1981.
In January 1984, a 60 million dollar expansion of FAIRVIEW POINTE-CLAIRE CENTRE got underway. Over 200,000 square feet of retail area was added in a new upper level and North Wing extension. The main shopping concourse, now double-decked, was fitted with peaked skylights and ceramic tile floors. A glass elevator and fountain were installed in Centre Court.
The 15-bay Le Patio Food Court occupied new Upper Level space and the two anchor stores were each enlarged with a third floor. Eaton now encompassed 230,000 square feet; Simpson comprised 240,000. An official re-dedication was held on August 14, 1985. The shopping venue now encompassed approximately 869,100 leasable square feet and contained 201 stores and services.
Anchor store rebrandings commenced on January 29, 1989, when Simpson became La Baie ["Luh Bay"]. The mall was expanded, with a third anchor, in 1992. The existing South Entrance and South Mall were relocated eastward and a 2-level (159,300 square foot) Sears built on the south-facing front of the structure. This addition increased the gross leasable area of the mall to approximately 1,007,400 square feet.
Eaton was shuttered in 1999. Soon after, Sears relocated into the building. In 2001, the old Sears was sectioned into four tenant spaces, surrounding a large court area. New tenants were a 1-level (15,700 square foot) Renaud-Bray, 1-level (18,100 square foot) Old Navy, 1-level (41,300 square foot) Atmosphere-Sports Experts and 2-level (59,600 square foot) HomeSense & Winners.
At the time of its official dedication in 1965, FAIRVIEW POINTE-CLAIRE CENTRE was within the corporate limits of the City of Pointe-Claire. On January 2, 2002, by decree of the Provisional Government, all twenty-seven municipalities on the Island of Montreal, including the City of Pointe-Claire, were merged into a unified City of Montreal.
This move was unpopular with citizens and referendums were held in June 2004 to retain -or dissolve- the mergers. Residents formerly in the City of Pointe-Claire voted to leave the newly-unified city. On January 1, 2006, the mall, and its environs, were once again a part of the City of Pointe-Claire.
The most recent expansion of FAIRVIEW POINTE-CLAIRE CENTRE involved the construction of a 1-level (38,500 square foot) Best Buy, which opened its doors in the autumn of 2005. This addition increased the gross leasable area of the mall to 1,045,400 square feet.
Hudson's Bay Company announced a department store name change in March 2013. All Francophone stores would be renamed La Baie D'Hudson, with The Bay locations to be known, henceforth, as Hudson's Bay. The mall, itself, was also renamed. On September 21, 2015, it became CF FAIRVIEW POINTE CLAIRE, this reflecting its co-ownership by the Cadillac Fairview Corporation.
Sears, which had operated at CF FAIRVIEW POINTE-CLAIRE for over 25 years, was shuttered as part of the demise of Sears Canada, Incorporated. The store went dark in December 2017. The vacant building was divided two ways. Level 1 was reconfigured as the new District Gourmand food court. This twenty-one-unit facility, which replaced the circa-1985 Le Patio, opened on April 1, 2021. Levels 2 and 3 became a (91,000 square foot) La Maison Simons location, which welcomed first shoppers on May 5, 2022.
Sources:
The Montreal Gazette
The Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph (Quebec City, Quebec)
http://www.fairviewpointeclaire.ca (website on Internet Archive Wayback Machine)
https://shops.cadillacfairview.com
http://www.cinematreasures.org
"Fairview Pointe-Claire Centre" article on Wikipedia
