May01·]im Tonn cuts the ribbon during the official opening ofCoquitlam Centre, Aug. 16, 1979, as throngs of eager shoppers 1vaitfor theirglimpse ofthe ne1v mall.
1979
COQUITLAM CENTRETHE MALL IN TH E WOODS
When Coquitlam Centre opened, there was no Sunwood Square or Pinetree Village. There was just the mall in tl1e woods, a mega-shopping centre surrounded by a huge parking lot and beyond that, evergreen trees. Construction started immediately after developer Ira Young officiated at the ground -breaking ceremony on May 26, 1977. Shoppers from Coquitlam and neighboring communities thronged to the new Coquitlam Centre when it opened Aug. 16, 1979, causing traffic jams similar to those sparked by the opening of nearby Westwood Racing Circuit in 1959. The mall's 4,200-stall parking lot was filled early on
opening day, prompting many eager shoppers to park down the highway at rival Westwood Mal l. Other malls reported that business was dismal on the day of tl1e Coquitlam mall's premiere. Trucks from the Pipeline Road gravel pits detoured on to residential streets to try to avoid the crowds. Coquitlam Centre became just that: the centre of huge commercial and residential development in northeast Coquitlam.
This 1978 aerial photo taken from Pinetree and Lougheed HighJVay shows 1'0ofbeing added to Coquitlam Centre.