Rideau Centre
Encyclopedia
Rideau Centre is a three-level shopping centre on Rideau Street
Rideau Street
Rideau Street is a major street in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and one of Ottawa's oldest and most famous streets running from Wellington Street in the west to Montreal Road in the east where it connects to the Vanier district...

 in Downtown
Downtown Ottawa
Downtown Ottawa is the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Like other downtowns it is the commercial and economic centre of the city. It is sometimes referred to as the Central Business District and contains Ottawa's financial district. It is bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the...

 Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It borders on Rideau Street
Rideau Street
Rideau Street is a major street in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and one of Ottawa's oldest and most famous streets running from Wellington Street in the west to Montreal Road in the east where it connects to the Vanier district...

 (and the Byward Market
Byward Market
ByWard Market is a district in Lower Town located east of the government & business district, surrounding the market buildings and open-air market on George, York, ByWard and William Streets.The district is bordered on the west by Sussex Drive, on the...

), the Rideau Canal
Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal , also known as the Rideau Waterway, connects the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on the Ottawa River to the city of Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario. The canal was opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States and is still in use today, with most of its...

, the Mackenzie King Bridge, and Nicholas Street.

At the time of its construction in 1981 and 1982, the Rideau Centre was somewhat controversial: a whole block of stores was torn down to make room for the Rideau Centre, and many people were opposed to their destruction. Others feared the impact of increased traffic and buses on the area. The Eaton's
Eaton's
The T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...

 department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

 chain, one of the partners in the development, caused further controversy when it attempted to rename the mall the "Rideau Eaton Centre" while it was still under construction; the company backed down in the face of local opposition to the name change.

The Rideau Centre was built with the agreement that it would become a pedestrian
Pedestrian
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using roller skates or skateboards are also considered to be pedestrians. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was not the case...

 right-of-way. The malls doors are open 24 hours a day to allow pedestrians access between Rideau Street and the Mackenzie King Bridge. This by-law was passed upon the opening of the Rideau Centre in 1982. Similarly, the Freiman Mall
Freiman Mall
Freiman Mall is an enclosed arcade between Rideau and George Streets in Downtown Ottawa, Canada, east of Sussex Drive and west of William Street...

, which is attached by an overpass to the Rideau Centre, is also a pedestrian right of way for access to the Byward Market
Byward Market
ByWard Market is a district in Lower Town located east of the government & business district, surrounding the market buildings and open-air market on George, York, ByWard and William Streets.The district is bordered on the west by Sussex Drive, on the...

.

The Rideau Centre opened on March 16, 1983, and today it is a major transport and shopping hub in downtown Ottawa. The centre's proximity to the shops in the Byward Market
Byward Market
ByWard Market is a district in Lower Town located east of the government & business district, surrounding the market buildings and open-air market on George, York, ByWard and William Streets.The district is bordered on the west by Sussex Drive, on the...

 and on Rideau Street
Rideau Street
Rideau Street is a major street in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and one of Ottawa's oldest and most famous streets running from Wellington Street in the west to Montreal Road in the east where it connects to the Vanier district...

, and its location near most of the city's main attractions, contribute to its status as one of the region's top shopping and tourist destinations.

The Rideau Centre complex also includes approximately 180 other retailers, the Westin Hotel
Westin Hotels
Westin Hotels & Resorts are an upscale hotel chain owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. As of 2011, Westin operated over 160 hotels in 37 countries.-History:...

, a rooftop park, a movie theatre and the Ottawa Convention Centre
Ottawa Convention Centre
The Ottawa Convention Centre is a convention centre in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada which opened in April 2011. The Centre replaces the Ottawa Congress Centre, which opened in 1985. The new centre is built on the site of the Congress Centre building, which was demolished in 2008-2009. The...

 (Old Congress Centre). With 740757 sq ft (68,818.6 m²) in size it is the fourth largest shopping centre in the Ottawa-Gatineau
National Capital Region (Canada)
The National Capital Region, also referred to as Canada's Capital Region, is an official federal designation for the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario, the neighbouring city of Gatineau, Quebec, and surrounding urban and rural communities....

 area (behind the St. Laurent Centre, Les Promenades de l'Outaouais
Les Promenades de l'Outaouais
Les Promenades de l'Outaouais is a major shopping centre located in Canada's National Capital Region. It is located in the city of Gatineau near the intersection of Greber and Maloney Boulevards, one of the city's busiest intersections and just off Autoroute 50.It is considered to be the second...

 and Bayshore Shopping Centre
Bayshore Shopping Centre
Bayshore Shopping Centre is a major shopping mall located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, more specifically in the former city of Nepean, Ontario. The mall is one of the busiest in the National Capital Region as it attracts about 7 million visitors per year from across the city and the surrounding...

). Significant expansions of the Rideau Centre are planned for the near future.

The Rideau Centre also has a rooftop garden with views of part of the Byward Market
Byward Market
ByWard Market is a district in Lower Town located east of the government & business district, surrounding the market buildings and open-air market on George, York, ByWard and William Streets.The district is bordered on the west by Sussex Drive, on the...

, the Rideau Canal
Rideau Canal
The Rideau Canal , also known as the Rideau Waterway, connects the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on the Ottawa River to the city of Kingston, Ontario on Lake Ontario. The canal was opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States and is still in use today, with most of its...

, the Château Laurier
Château Laurier
The Fairmont Château Laurier is a landmark hotel in Downtown Ottawa, Ontario located near the intersection of Rideau Street and Sussex Drive designed in the Châteauesque style.-History:...

, and the Parliament buildings
Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill , colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Its Gothic revival suite of buildingsthe parliament buildings serves as the home of the Parliament of Canada and contains a number of architectural...

. During the annual Tulip Festival
Tulip Festival (Ottawa)
The Canadian Tulip Festival is a tulip festival, held annually in May in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada. The festival claims to be the world's largest tulip festival, displaying over one million tulips, with attendance of over 500,000 visitors annually...

, the garden is filled with tulips.

The Rideau Centre and the adjacent National Defence Headquarters building
Department of National Defence Headquarters (Canada)
The Major-General George R. Pearkes Building is the principal location of Canada's National Defence Headquarters and is located in Ottawa, Ontario....

 are both served by OC Transpo
OC Transpo
OC Transpo is the urban transit service of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. An integrated hub-and-spoke system of services is available consisting of: regular buses travelling on fixed routes in mixed traffic, typical of most urban transit systems; a bus rapid transit system — a high...

's Mackenzie King Transitway station
Mackenzie King Station (OC Transpo)
Mackenzie King Station is a major station on the OC Transpo transitway. It is served by all three of OC Transpo's principal routes along with all express routes and several crosstown routes...

, which is served by a number of major bus routes.

See also

  • Eaton Centre
    Eaton Centre
    Eaton Centre is a name associated with shopping malls in Canada, originating with Eaton's, one of Canada's largest department store chains at the time that these malls were developed. Eaton's partnered with development companies throughout the 1970s and 1980s to develop downtown shopping malls in...

  • A list of Canada's largest shopping malls
    Canada's largest shopping malls
    The following is a list of Canada's largest enclosed shopping malls, ranked by reported total retail floor space, or gross leasable area . In cases where malls have equal area, they are further ranked by number of stores.-See also:...


External links

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