Winkler’s Southland Mall celebrated its grand re-opening Aug. 8 with a ribbon cutting that took place nearly 40 years to the day the shopping centre first opened in the community.
The celebration marked the near completion of major renovations to the facility both inside and out to accommodate new tenants such as Winners, Anytime Fitness, Stacked Pancake House, and Valley Fiber, with more on the way.
Photos by Ashleigh Viveiros/Voice
“For us, it’s not just a celebration of the bricks and mortar that you see before you but really a testament to the enduring relationship that we’ve had with the community of Winkler for all these decades,” said Lesley Gibson, CFO for CT REIT, which owns the property. “Reinvesting in our communities is more than just good business for us. It’s about building a foundation for the future generations … together, we’re going to continue to make Winkler and indeed Canada a better place.”
The mall invited people down to enjoy a free barbecue lunch, activities for the kids, live music from Faces for Radio, door prizes, and to check out the myriad information booths manned by local non-profits.
To further thank the community for four decades of support, CT REIT made a donation of $4,000 to the Central Station Community Centre.
“The centre’s dedication to providing a safe and comfortable space with programs and opportunities to foster community connections definitely aligns with the values of CTE REIT,” Gibson noted. “By supporting initiatives like the Central Station Community Centre we’re not only enhancing quality of life for current residents but also continuing to create a legacy of compassion and care.”
The day’s official ceremony included a blessing from Indigenous elder Barb Nepinak and drumming by Eric Mousseau. Numerous dignitaries also brought greetings, including Winkler Mayor Henry Siemens.
“I remember well when the Southland Mall was announced that it was coming and the excitement that was in the community,” he said, recalling the thrill of knowing you could finally shop locally instead of having to always go into Winnipeg. “For the next number of years, if anything happened in our area, it happened at the Southland Mall. We had farm toy shows, we had wedding shows, we had greetings with Santa … you couldn’t really do anything on the weekend without at least making a pit stop at the mall, because you knew that’s where your friends were, that’s where your family was going to be.”
Changing times have proven challenging for malls across the country. Siemens said he is thrilled to see CT REIT “investing into our community, investing into this building, reimagining what this mall can be, and we’re starting to see more and more of it—more retailers coming, retailers repositioning where they are and how they go about their business.
“We’re starting to see more and more vehicles here again, we’re starting to see more and more activity,” the mayor said. “It is exciting and it is fantastic and we’re looking forward to it. We’re proud that you’ve continued to invest into our community in this way, and we can hardly wait to see how the community will respond to support this fabulous facility again.”
Cutting the ribbon on the renos was Jake Friesen, who has been with the Southland Mall from the very beginning, first working on the construction crew in 1984 and then becoming the facility’s first maintenance man in ‘85. Today he heads up building operations.
Generations of Winklerites have shopped and hung out at the mall, and Friesen has always been there to ensure the facility was in good shape and, occasionally, to tell rambunctious youth to “simmer down” when needed.
“There’s a lot of people that I meet downtown who say ‘Hi, Mr. Friesen’ and I don’t remember them because they were this big when I knew them,” he said, laughing. “They came over here out of school to spend time in the mall and now they have little ones of their own.
“The mall has changed drastically,” Friesen said, reflecting on all the community events they hosted and the many retailers that have called it home through the years. “Everybody came to the mall, the hallways were full.”
He’s excited to see new life breathed into the facility with the most recent additions.
“It’s good to see that the building is back to being used.”
