|
Willows Shopping Centre
|
|
First shopping centre in Oak Bay to offer drive-in service
|
|
Times Colonist, Thursday October 20, 1955
|
courtesy Janice Mason
|
 |
|
Willows Shopping Centre
(1955)
|
|
Willo-Way Super Mart / Totem Pharmacy / Individual Cleaners
Golden Loaf Bakery / Tyrrell's of Oak Bay |
     |
 |
 |
|
Built on vacant land between Hamiota and Estevan, the Willows Shopping Centre opened on October 21, 1955, and was touted as the first shopping centre in Oak Bay to offer drive-in service. The following promotional material was published in the Times Colonist the day before the Grand Opening. |
The Willows Shopping Centre represents an interesting concept in store design. It is the first shopping centre in Oak Bay to provide drive-in service and an enclosed off-street parking area fully accessible to each store. |
Architects Clack, Clayton, Pickstone have designed a distinctive building form that will identify the entire shopping centre. The dominating Red and White Food Store has an inverted butterfly roof with a fully-glazed front that extends from the sidewalk to the roof, making the whole of the inside of the store its own display window. This conforms with the very latest trend in self-serve marketing. |
The four smaller stores in the Centre are lower in height and are staggered in plan to complete the building frontage facing Cadboro Bay Road. Service to all stores is from a rear road access and a loading area is provided for each store to assure speedy and efficient delivery. |
The Architects have created a space and color pattern. The pedestrian areas, black-topped parking areas, and the landscape spaces are shaped to give an interesting ground pattern and color strips have been used even on the sidewalks within the centre. The building frontage combines color and glass into an interesting patterrn that will attract shoppers. |
The Architects have used color to complement the shapes of the buiding, and to give emphasis where necessary. Each store has a distinctive and contemporary color scheme which can be seen through the large plate-glass windows, but the whole centre has been integrated into a harmonious composition. |
The construction of this $50,000 Shopping Centre is of concrete and concrete block. The roof of the Food Market is supported on inverted glue-lam beams and slender steel columns, to give an unobstructed space as large as possible. |
There is 5,000 square feet of floor space in the Centre, and the stores are being occupied by the Willoway Red and White Store, the Totem Pharmacy, The Individual Cleaner, the Golden Loaf Bakery, and Tyrrell's Hairdressing Salon. |
| The Shopping Centre is owned by David R. McAdams. |
|
— Times Colonist, October 20, 1955 |
|
PHOTOGRAPHS
|
Click on photo to view enlargement
|
|
|
Willows Shopping Centre
1955 |
Do you have any photos of the Willows Shopping Centre?
If yes, please specify in the form below
|
ARTIFACTS
|
Click on Opening Day newspaper ads to view enlargements
 Totem Pharmacy |
 Willo-Way Super Mart |
 Tyrrell's of Oak Bay |
Do you have any artifacts of the Willows Shopping Centre?
If yes, please specify in the form below
|
RECOLLECTIONS
|
Do you have any recollections of the Willows Shopping Centre?
If yes, please share them by using the form below
|
SUBMISSIONS
|
|
Do you have any
photos, artifacts or recollections of the Willows Shopping Centre? |
|
PLEASE CONTACT US Your contribution may become part of Oak Bay history! |
|
You can email us, with attachments if available |
|
OR
|
|
You can use the Online Submission Form, below
|
Thank You!
Return to section "W" of the Encyclopedia
The History of Oak Bay Website
A CENTENNIAL LEGACY PROJECT