HOPPING) STANDS FOR PROGRESS THE BEGINNING TODAY TURNING OF THE SOD Pictured above at the turning of the sod (1955) Left to right: G. A. Wandless, Alderman Walter Branch, Mayor Norman Down, Roy Barrand, Alderman Christine Thomas and Alderman Orville % Dreams Turned Into Reality * x With More To Come + It required an enormous amount of faith and imagination on the part of the owners and the original tenants of the OSHAWA SHOPPING CENTRE to join forces in what was in the largest open Mall Shopping Centre in Canada. For the T. EATON COMPANY LIMITED, it was their first venture into @ suburban Shopping @entre -- for the other 28 original tenants it was @ gamble with a new concept in Shopping Centres, The layout, the entrances at either end of each store, the landscaped central Mall, the underground trucking concourse and the seemingly vast parking lot were all new and in some ways a little frightening. But their faith and their imagination has paid dividends as shown by the fact, that to-day there are some 80 business operations in the OSHAWA SHOPPING CENTRE, and that, in many ways, it is not only the largest, but the best of the chain of Shopping Centres. owned and operated by CANADIAN INTERURBAN PROPERTIES LIMITED. On the occasion of its 10th ANNIVERSARY the entire Shopping Centre, with the exception of a few hundred square feet of office space, is entirely Leased and the variety of merchants and the range of mer- chandise, make it one of the most attractive placesto shop in Ontario. Although the bulk of its customers come from the City of Oshawa, on any single day a check of the cars in the parking lot will find people from as far afield as' Port Hope, Peterborough, Cobourg and the Eastern Suburbs of Toronto, However, a successful Shopping Centre cannot afford to stand still and the owners have in recent years been negotiating to add additional facilities to the Centre, and they expect to announce before the end of the year. plans to enlarge the Centre by adding a second Department store and 800 seat Movie Theatre, an Automobile Centre, and possibly a second Supermarket. At such time they will make a decision as to the economic feasibility of enclosing the Mall. One feature of the Shopping Centre is that to our knowledge it is the largest of its type which is managed by a woman, and a great deal of the credit for appearance and operation of the centre goes to Mrs. M: M, Martin the Centre's Administrator and her 'on site' staff, But in the final analysis the most important element in the success of a Shopping Centre is the quality of its merchants. Over the years not only has each merchant proven his individual worth, but they have joined together to form one of the strongest and most effective Merchants' Association in Canada, * OSHAWA SHOPPING CENTRE'S 1966 MERCHANTS' ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 1966. Seated Left to Right: Mrs, B. D. Locke of Lockes Florists, Mr. $. W. C. Mumford-Chairman, Jock Proser Stores Ltd., ond Mrs. M. M. Martin Oshawa Shopping Centre's Administrotor Stending Left to Right; Mr. T. J, Matthews, T. Eaton Co, Lid., Mr. J. D, Welntosh, Zeller's Lid. end Mr Ty di Meboughiin, & & Kreage Go, itd; Doughty, Walker's, Mr, R. J. Leah, Fairweather Co., Mr. Froser