Musical Tribute to Kingsgate Mall's Quaint Charm
BC's education minister wants the Vancouver School Board to sell its mall. Here's a toast to its enduring popularity.
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Many have wondered why Kingsgate Mall on Broadway near Vancouver's Main Street exists. It sits on valuable land, with nearby developments like the Independent coming in, but the mall is often empty. Shops sell dated clothing with strange slogans (one reads "caution: slippering when it wet") and old DVDs (1001 Classic Commercials: Over 16 Hours of the Greatest TV Commercials!). Regulars include seniors who try their luck at the Keno and a church that holds a Thursday Bible study at the mall.
Years of amusing quaintness have earned it a name among Main Street hipsters. Artists have used the mall to show projects and musicians have even played there. A comedy, unofficial Twitter account for the mall boasts almost 8,000 followers (please visit this Twitter for a better feel of Kingsgate's cult appeal, with coverage of its seniors days and an image of the mall at the end of a rainbow).
In case you didn't know, the Kingsgate Mall land is owned by the Vancouver School Board. Developer Beedie owns the mall itself, operating on a lease. Mount Pleasant Elementary School sat on the land until the mall was built in the 1970s. Tyee education reporter Katie Hyslop wrote about a recent dispute surrounding the mall: the education minister wants the board to sell it to cover a $21.8 million shortfall, but the board refused. Tyee editor Paul Willcocks argued it's best to keep the mall, and that selling it is no way to fund education.
Here's a musical video tribute to its legacy by YouTuber vickyvan01, to the tune of Adele's "Skyfall".