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44-553: The complex comprises several office buildings, a shopping centre, two hotels, a parking garage, and three apartment buildings. A fourth apartment building is under construction. Scotia Square is connected to the Downtown Halifax Link , a network of enclosed walkways, and hosts a major Halifax Transit bus terminal. Scotia Square was developed in an era when urban renewal was in vogue. Many cities were demolishing neighbourhoods considered blighted and obsolete. In 1956,

88-612: A Woolco department store. A food court, known as the "Ports of Call", opened in July 1978 with 350 seats and seven food kiosks. The second office tower, Barrington Tower , was officially completed on 1 April 1971 and served as the headquarters of the Nova Scotia Power Commission , later Nova Scotia Power Corporation. Following privatization of the electricity utility, it became the headquarters of Emera . Duke Tower and Barrington Tower are located directly on top of

132-516: A 291-unit residential building that began construction the same year. Scotia Square consists of a shopping mall, two hotels, and a number of office and apartment towers connected to each other and to other buildings by pedways and tunnels. In the centre of the complex is Scotia Square Mall and a large food court servicing the adjoining office buildings. The complex is adjacent to the Cogswell Interchange , and it fronts on Duke Street to

176-547: A bigger impact in Canada than it did in the US. The Woolco was re-branded F. W. Woolworth stores in the 1980s, but Woolworth-branded stores had been in Canada around 1904. There were 160 Woolco stores in Canada at dissolution, the chain having survived another 11 years in Canada after the US closure and before being bought out by Walmart Canada . They were so well known that Canadian songwriters Leon Dubinsky and Max MacDonald even wrote

220-476: A common practice among early discounters. Starting in the late 1970s, Woolworth enacted a cost-saving plan for Woolco that included a reduction in floor space for the largest locations, the elimination of most leased departments and an expansion into smaller markets with stores as small as 60,000 square feet (5,600 m ). During this period, the excess space in some larger Woolco stores went to Woolworth-owned J. Brannam. J. Brannam, short for "Just Brand Names",

264-693: A grand opening in the U.S. was the September 29, 1982, launch of the Luling, Louisiana at St. Charles Plaza, store which was five days after the chain's announcement of closing all stores. By January 1983, all 336 stores were shuttered. Woolco's inventory was valued at approximately $ 1 billion, making Woolco's liquidation the largest in United States history at the time. However, the Canadian division of approximately 120 stores remained open. In 1982,

308-677: A popular song called "Working at the Woolco Manager Trainee Blues" (1977). During the 1970s and 1980s, the Canadian stores were well known for their monthly "$ 1.44 Days", wherein numerous items were sold at a price of $ 1.44 CAD . Competitors Woodward's & Eaton's ran "$ 1.49 Days" usually the first Monday each month. Most stores also contained an automotive and tire service department. Most stores in Canada had an in-store restaurant section. These restaurants were named Red Grille or Strawberry Street Cafeteria, except in

352-538: A second call for proposals, which this time attracted three entrants – HDL, Woking Group, and local developer Ralph Medjuck. Medjuck bought out Woking Group "at the last minute", giving him control over two of the proposals. On 24 April 1966, the city announced that HDL's "Scotia Square" proposal had been selected. Halifax Developments Limited hired McAlpine Construction to serve as general contractor, and brought Toronto architecture firm Allward and Gouinlock on as an architectural consultant. A formal agreement between HDL and

396-566: A warehouse for light manufacturing and storage." As of 2023, the Trade Mart is called "Brunswick Place". Premier Smith also opened the Scotia Square shopping centre on 15 October 1969. At that time, there were 29 stores. Another 30 stores opened by the end of 1969. The first office tower in the complex, Duke Tower , was opened on 1 February 1970. The shopping centre, called Scotia Mall, housed tenants such as Famous Players cinema and

440-529: Is a network of climate-controlled pedways ( pedestrian tunnels and skywalks ) connecting various office buildings, hotels, parkades, and entertainment venues around downtown Halifax , Nova Scotia , Canada . It is similar to Toronto's PATH or Montreal's RÉSO system, but on a much smaller scale. These walkways are all open to the public, and are convenient during inclement weather and the winter months. Hotels: Office buildings: Residential: Entertainment and retail: Trade Centre Limited (TCL),

484-414: Is home to one of the busiest Halifax Transit bus terminals in the city; Scotia Square Terminal saw over 11,000 passengers board or alight on an average weekday in 2019/20. As of October 2021, it was served by 33 bus routes. Most of the buses stop on Barrington Street with the exception of the regional express ( MetroX ) routes, which are located on Albemarle Street, and route 2, which stops on Duke Street in

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528-471: The National Housing Act was amended, offering federal government assistance to redevelopment projects that put land to its "highest and best use". Halifax city council commissioned town planner Gordon Stephenson to draw up a redevelopment proposal for the city, which was published in 1957. Stephenson called the area now home to Scotia Square the "worst part" of the city centre, writing: "With

572-624: The 203-room Barrington Inn, which was operated by Delta Hotels and was later known as the Delta Barrington. As of 2023, it operates as the Barrington Hotel. Barrington Place also contained 55 retail spaces on opening, providing together with Scotia Mall more than 150 shops and services, which Halifax Developments described as "the greatest single selection of stores and services in Atlantic Canada". The eastern side of

616-475: The Big W chain and sold some of the stores to supermarket chains Asda and Tesco . Woolworths rebranded the Big W stores they kept under their own name and they remained until Woolworths' administration in 2008. In 1990, 26 Woolworth stores in Canada were converted to Woolco because of their larger size. On January 14, 1994, in order to repay the $ 1.7 billion debt incurred from international specialty store expansion,

660-622: The CIBC Building, is an office high-rise that was announced by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in 1975 as the bank's new Atlantic regional headquarters, and opened as the Bank of Commerce Tower in September 1977. It is connected to TD Tower , which is owned by a different landlord and is not considered part of Scotia Square. Barrington Place, a low-rise retail and hotel building, was opened on 26 March 1980. It housed

704-459: The City of Halifax was signed on 31 August 1966 and construction of the Trade Mart, the first phase of the development, began thereafter. The urban fabric of downtown Halifax was significantly altered by the development. Several streets disappeared from the map, including Buckingham Street, Bells Lane, Jacob Street, and sections of Grafton and Argyle streets. Scotia Square was developed in concert with

748-732: The Clayton Park-bound direction. As part of a renovation and expansion of the Scotia Square shopping centre on Barrington Street, an indoor waiting room was added for Halifax Transit passengers. Located at street level, on the west side of Barrington Street, the waiting room opened on 27 November 2017. There are plans to expand and enhance Scotia Square Terminal as part of the Cogswell Interchange redevelopment project, adding dedicated transit lanes, seating, improved lighting, canopies, and electronic signage. Downtown Halifax Link The Downtown Halifax Link system

792-482: The Cogswell Interchange linking Barrington Place to the Purdy's Wharf development on the waterfront. In the late 1990s, the podium façade at the corner of Duke and Barrington streets was altered. In 2014, retail and dining storefronts were added to the three apartment buildings on Brunswick Street (MacKeen Towers, Scotia Towers, and Plaza 1881), replacing blank walls. This project won an Award of Merit for Civic Design in

836-677: The Halifax municipal government's Urban Design Awards 2018. An expansion of the Scotia Square shopping centre, along Barrington Street, was built around 2016-17. It was designed by DSRA Architects of Halifax. The three-storey development adds street-level commercial space, as well as office and retail space above. According to Crombie REIT, the design was intended to bring the site into better agreement with municipal design guidelines mandating more pedestrian-oriented districts. The project also added an indoor waiting room, at street level, for Halifax Transit passengers. A new building, Westhill on Duke,

880-538: The NSLC outlet next to the Barrington Street entrance at street level). The food court was renovated in 2014 and named "The Mix" by Crombie REIT . The court features 14 different food vendors ranging from large fast food chains like McDonald's to locally owned vendors like Mama Gratti's Deli & Market. Various upgrades to seating during the renovation allows large foot traffic during lunchtime rushes during

924-464: The Scotia Square mall. In addition to offices, retail space, and a hotel, Scotia Square was designed to include several apartment buildings. The first of these was the 190-unit Scotia Towers, which opened in 1972. In October 1971, it was announced that Halifax Developments Limited would partner with Canadian Pacific Hotels to build a new hotel at Scotia Square. Called the Chateau Halifax,

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968-720: The UK stores were spun off along with the British Woolworths chain in the same year. in 1986, Woolworths sold the Woolco stores to Gateway , exiting them out of their ownership. Gateway then soon sold the stores again to Asda in 1988. In the UK, Woolworths' then-parent company Kingfisher plc attempted to revive the style of Woolco with the Big W chain in 1999, which was successful but suffered when Woolworths split into its own company in 2001, and in 2004, Woolworths Group PLC scrapped

1012-664: The US, as well as in Canada and the United Kingdom . While the American stores were closed in 1983, the chain remained active in Canada until it was sold in 1994 to rival Walmart , which was looking to enter the Canadian market. All of the former UK Woolco stores were sold by Kingfisher , which had bought the UK Woolworth business, to Gateway which subsequently sold them to Asda . The creation of Woolco coincided with

1056-583: The Woking Group submitted a more modest proposal developed with the assistance of architects Robert Matthew and Percy Johnson-Marshall of the University of Edinburgh . An agreement was signed between the city and the Woking Group in October 1963. This agreement later fell through due to financial issues. K.C. Appleyard, an engineer who had helped set up Industrial Estates Limited , was critical of

1100-572: The Woolworth Corporation sold most of the Woolco Canada stores to Walmart . Walmart did not acquire the Woolco stores that were either unionized or had downtown locations. Some Woolco stores were sold and re-opened as Zellers stores; when Zellers liquidated, some of those stores were later sold to Target Canada , which ceased operations itself in 2015 following bankruptcy. In a smaller, less crowded retail market, Woolco had

1144-476: The adjacent Cogswell Interchange , a multi-level road interchange that opened in 1970 and was to be the first phase of a waterfront highway called Harbour Drive, which was cancelled due to public protest. The first phase of Scotia Square, the Trade Mart building, was officially opened in 1968 by Nova Scotia premier George Isaac Smith . That building was described by the developer as "a combined shopping centre for wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers' agents, and

1188-625: The chain had stores as far west as Arizona and as far east as North Carolina. This expansion soon proved too strenuous for the chain, and all locations were shuttered by December 1985, citing "increased competition in discount retailing". By 1979, it became clear that the earlier cost-saving plan would not be enough to save Woolco from failure, so Woolworth combined the discount store operating unit with its variety stores and began to close stores in unprofitable markets including Chicago . On September 24, 1982, Woolco announced it would close all of its United States stores. The final Woolco store to have

1232-655: The city's failure to develop the Central Redevelopment Area. Halifax mayor Charles Vaughan challenged Appleyard to do something about it, and Appleyard reportedly went to the Halifax Club the same day to assemble a new development company, Halifax Developments Limited (HDL), with the board of directors composed of prominent members of the province's business elite. The company informed Halifax council of their plans, and hired architect Carl Koch and real estate consultant William Hardman. The city issued

1276-515: The company to be "promotional department stores," with expanded product lines and other amenities not typically found at namesake Woolworth stores. Many locations contained Red Grille restaurants, a cafeteria -style outlet, and the food areas sold popcorn , real milkshakes , and other food. A number of Woolco stores were opened in the United Kingdom during the same period, one of which in Bournemouth – opened on 29 October 1968 –

1320-502: The developers of the new Halifax Convention Centre , have sought to connect the new facility with the Downtown Halifax Link via a new tunnel along Grafton Street. Scott Ferguson, president of TCL, said that such a tunnel would help Halifax compete by linking the new centre with the existing network of hotel rooms. The tunnel is expected to cost $ 7-10 million. City staff are exploring possible alternatives but have not ruled

1364-545: The development incorporates the architecturally valuable facades of demolished 19th-century buildings facing the Granville Mall (a portion of Granville Street closed to motor vehicle traffic). In recent years, much of the Barrington Place retail space was converted to office space as well as a gym that occupies many of the former shopfronts along Granville Street. In the 1980s, a footbridge was built across

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1408-401: The exception of the blocks between Barrington and Argyle Streets, it is in a generally deplorable condition. Here are some of the worst tenements, and dirty cinder sidewalks merge with patches of cleared land littered with rubbish. It is suggested that the clearing of this area should have high priority." Stephenson proposed a suite of recommendations across Halifax including the clearance of what

1452-542: The expansion of suburbia. Woolworth's flagship stores were still doing well, but the company wanted to tap into the growing discount department store market without diluting its dominant position in the variety store business. The first Woolco store was located in Columbus, Ohio . By 1966, there were 18 in the United States and nine in Canada. Plans were for 30 stores to be added per year. This led to tremendous growth as over 300 Woolco stores opened up across North America by

1496-536: The hotel was completed on 29 January 1974. It later became the Delta Halifax , and as of 2023 is operated as the Hotel Halifax by a different owner. MacKeen Towers, the second residential building in the Scotia Square complex, opened in October 1974. It is named after Colonel John C. MacKeen. The original development plan called for an apartment building at the north end of the parking garage. Owing to

1540-560: The mid-1970s. Some stores were converted from regular Woolworth stores, including the location at Westland Mall in West Burlington, Iowa . The company experimented with both Woolco and a more downscale merchandising unit called Worth Mart in the mid-1960s. Woolco was the eventual winner with customers, and the Worth Mart stores were folded into Woolco's store base by the 1970s. At the outset, Woolco stores were considered by

1584-469: The opposite side of Barrington Street are marketed as being part of Scotia Square, though these were not part of the original development proposal. They were developed by Durham Leaseholds Limited, a joint venture between Halifax Developments Limited and Oxford Development Group of Edmonton, and are linked to the Square Square mall via enclosed pedestrian bridges. 1809 Barrington , better known as

1628-411: The south, Barrington Street to the east, and Albemarle Street (formerly Market Street) to the west. Scotia Square is connected to surrounding buildings by several pedestrian bridges and tunnels. The Scotia Square mall is mainly located beneath Duke and Barrington towers. It has grown smaller over time, as the uppermost floor was converted to office space. Today, the mall occupies one level (except for

1672-511: The successful leasing of the two office towers, it was decided to build a third office tower there instead. Called Cogswell Tower, this building was completed in May 1975. The third residential building, the 155-unit Plaza 1881, began accepting tenants in May 1980. It was designed as a "deluxe apartment building" with a health club and swimming pool. It was built on the site of Halifax's old city market and police department. Two additional buildings on

1716-454: The tunnel out. 44°39′1.6″N 63°34′30.1″W  /  44.650444°N 63.575028°W  / 44.650444; -63.575028 Woolco Woolco was an American-based discount retail chain. It was founded in 1962 in Columbus , Ohio , by the F. W. Woolworth Company . It was a full-line discount department store unlike the five-and-dime Woolworth stores which operated at the time. At its peak, Woolco had hundreds of stores in

1760-437: The week. Being based toward servicing those working downtown the hours of operation of most food court tenants are 9:30   a.m. to 6:00   p.m. The municipal government operated a service centre in the mall, but this closed permanently in 2020. As of 2023, the mall is home to 11 food outlets and 23 shops and services. Major tenants include Lawtons, Scotiabank, Coles, NSLC, Dollarama, and Goodlife Fitness. Scotia Square

1804-503: Was an off-price clothing retailer owned by F.W. Woolworth. Plans for the chain were first made public via a press release in July 1979, which stated the chain would open its first locations in the Oklahoma City and Dallas metro markets, in which there would be three and five locations in each area respectively. All eight of these prototype J. Brannam locations opened on October 24, 1979. Rapid expansion began and by its peak in 1982

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1848-556: Was in 1970 the largest store on one floor in Britain, with an area of 114,000 square feet and parking space for 1,250 cars. In November 1971, four new stores were opened simultaneously across Canada (including at Marlborough Mall ) bringing the total in that country to 47. The typical Woolco store was well over 100,000 square feet (9,300 m ), which was quite large for a discount store of that era. Many of its departments (e.g., shoes and jewelry) were leased to third-party operators,

1892-440: Was proposed in the 2010s for the southwest corner of the complex on the corner of Duke Street and Albemarle Street. It was to be an 18-storey building with retail, residential, and office space with a more pedestrian-friendly street frontage than the current blank wall. Architects involved on the project were DSRA Architects and Zeidler Partnership Architects . The Westhill on Duke proposal was superseded in 2023 by "The Marlstone",

1936-527: Was termed the "Central Redevelopment Area". The City of Halifax applied for (and won) funds under section 23 of the National Housing Act to aid in land acquisition and clearance. The 12.81 acres of cleared land was held jointly by all three levels of government. In 1962, the city put out a request for proposals that attracted only one response, from the Woking Group. The city considered the proposal too ambitious and rejected it. In September 1963,

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