Pearson Plaza 1.67

Pearson Plaza is the name of a small indoor shopping complex in Elliot Lake, Ontario. Located on the site of the former Nordic Hotel (later Huron Lodge), at Hillside Drive South and Ontario Avenue, it replaces the Algo Centre Mall, demolished after a tragic collapse.Originally planned to open in fall 2015, the mall's first store, a Foodland grocery store, officially opened on April 1, 2016 and then Turner's Department store on December 6, 2016. Dollarama is slated to open in January 2017, followed by the Library and two-restaurant food court later that year.Due to the Algo Centre situation, and the tremendous social and economic impact it had on Elliot Lake as a small city with few other major retail outlets, the project was funded almost entirely by the provincial and federal governments. The Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada each provided $1 million in funding, with the remaining $1.5 million being provided via an amortized loan from Infrastructure Ontario.Pearson Plaza was originally designed as a single floor complex with a series of big box stores to be anchored by Foodland and Canadian Tire, and the number of retail tenants totaling 20 to 22. It now has been modified to be a grocery store, department store, dollar store, library and small food court.The land purchase for the new mall was completed by developer Ron McCowan in March 2014 but by October construction on the property had not been started.The development name Pearson may refer to The Right Honourable Lester Pearson, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning former Prime Minister of Canada, who served as the MP for Algoma East, including Elliot Lake, from 1948 to 1968.