Aberdeen Centre

Aberdeen Centre

Present logo, with Chinese name
Location Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Opening date 1989 (original building)
2003 (current building)
Developer Fairchild Development
Management Fairchild Group
Owner Fairchild Group
No. of stores and services 150
Total retail floor area 380,000 sq ft (35,000 m2)
No. of floors 3
Parking Yes, covered
Website http://www.aberdeencentre.com

Aberdeen Centre (traditional Chinese: 時代坊; simplified Chinese: 时代坊; pinyin: Shídàifāng) is a shopping mall in Richmond, British Columbia. It is located in the Golden Village district on Hazelbridge Way, bordered by Cambie Road to the north.

History

Image of the original Aberdeen Centre

The original Aberdeen Centre was built in 1989. It contained about 50 to 75 stores. The original Chinese name was "香港仔中心", which refers to the Chinese name of Aberdeen, Hong Kong.

The old Aberdeen Centre logo

As new Asian malls such as Yaohan Centre and President Plaza opened, it soon became apparent that the original Aberdeen was too small to compete. It was demolished in 2001, and was rebuilt for approximately $130 million.

The current Aberdeen Centre, opened in 2003, is about three times the original mall's size and has around 100 stores.

The new mall's primary anchor store is Daiso, which is the company's first store outside of Asia. There are restaurants on its upper floors. An indoor musical fountain, similar to the one in front of Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas but smaller in scale, was built at the centre of the mall and performs shows every hour.[1]

In 2006, the mall became home to the operations of Fairchild Group's Chinese-language TV and radio operations in Vancouver. Fairchild Radio (CJVB AM1470 and CHKG FM96.1) now has studios on the second floor, while Fairchild TV and Talentvision have their news studios on the third floor.[2]

On August 8, 2008, the largest viewing party in the Vancouver area for the 2008 Summer Olympics took place at the mall, with thousands of spectators, some of whom had lined up since 3:30 in the morning.[3]

Transportation

Public transit buses, serviced by TransLink, have connections to the mall, with additional routes to Downtown Vancouver and New Westminster. It is also served by SkyTrain's Aberdeen Station along the Canada Line with access to the station via Aberdeen Square through an overhead walkway to the east platform.

Incidents

On February 9, 2006, a knife battle between four men occurred in the upper food court area of the mall. One man was fatally stabbed in the heart and died at the scene. Another was seriously injured, suffering a knife wound at the back. The two remaining men fled the scene, leaving horrified shoppers. [4]

On October 26, 2008, a middle-aged Asian man committed suicide by jumping down from the third floor near the food court area. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Richmond RCMP ruled out any foul play and believed it was an isolated suicide incident.[5]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ↑ Aberdeen Centre
  2. ↑ "Fairchild Media Group" (in Chinese). Popular Lifestyle Entertainment Magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
  3. ↑ "Thousands flock to Olympic party". Richmond Review. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  4. ↑ Shocked shoppers look on as man stabbed to death
  5. ↑ Man jumps to his death at Aberdeen

Further reading

External links

Coordinates: 49°11′03″N 123°08′01″W / 49.184053°N 123.133639°W / 49.184053; -123.133639

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