Port Place Reno Progressing

Crane Hoists Steel Beam Into Place

A truck mounted crane from Dudeck Truck and Crane hoists a piece of heavy steel framing into place on the front of Port Place Mall.

This is all part of the ongoing renovation job which will see Port Place Mall transformed over the coming months into a pedestrian friendly mall with a roadway connecting Terminal Ave. with Front Street.

The major mall tenants consisting of London Drugs and Thrifty's Food will remain in their current locations but pretty much the rest of the mall will get a complete face lift.

There was a time when Port Place Mall, previously known as Harbour Park Mall was 'the' shopping centre in Nanaimo, being the home of Sears which was a major department store serving Nanaimo at the time. At the same time their major rival, Eatons was housed on Victoria Crescent and Commercial Street was the center of trade and commerce for Nanaimo and area.

There was no shopping north of Brooks Landing, which at that time was known as Northbrook Mall. Nanaimo has certainly expanded and spread out, and increased in size. I guess the jury is still out on whether that is a good thing or not. There are some who think that urban sprawl and unrestrained development have created more problems than they have solved. I wonder, if it were not for all that real estate development, where those in opposition would be living now?