The Beach Mall has been a fixture of my childhood. This isn't your typical mall. It's a small, two-storey building that was previously the Allen Beach Theatre decades ago.
I passed by this mall walking to and from my elementary school. I remember these orange-red ball-shaped lights dangling from the ceiling. It had that 70's look for years and I hope that they are gone now.
Before Shoppers Drug Mart set up shop on Queen Street East, Beach Mall had a Guardian Drugs with a post office. My mom would ask me to go to the post office and send letters to Hong Kong through registered mail. She gave me money. I look back and that was a huge responsibility for a kid. I was good and never spent the money on candy at the variety store a couple of businesses down from the mall. Perhaps that's one reason why I ended up liking numbers. I was good making sure that I had returned the remaining change to my mom. I was such a good, weird kid.
The drug store is long gone. Many of the stores here have turned over. Lido's in the Beach used to be a restaurant and bar at this mall. In my last year of high school, the provincial government decided to scrap giving $100 to each graduating student who made the honour roll. I was not pleased, as were many of my friends. Lido's was so nice to shell out $70 for each honour roll student that year. It meant a lot. Sadly, this restaurant is gone. Pizzaville has taken over from where it used to be.
The mall still has a walk-in clinic. There's a martial arts studio, daycare, and a few other businesses. It's more of a community-based mall than a large retail conglomerate that you associate a mall to be these days.
I'm glad that Beach Mall is still alive and kicking. I believe that there used to be parking at the back of this place. Otherwise, you can park on Queen Street East, or along Waverley or Kenilworth Avenue. I'm not sure if this stretch of Queen Street East is metered parking these days. You can definitely park for free along the other two side streets.
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