Expansion slated for completion early spring.

Northgate recognized for its role in promoting development in North Bay

Winter's barely a month old, but already Phil Richardson is counting down the days to the spring break. Actually, the president of Springbank Property Group Inc. can't wait for March 7, the week before spring break, that's when Richardson will open the second step in the $30-million expansion of Northgate Square.

The expansion brings in fashion stores such as Au Coton, The Gap, Dynamite and a large Le Chateau, as well as other retailers including Reeds Jewellers, Shira Jewellers, Payless Shoes, Stokes, the Bulk Barn, a large Hallmark Cards store and an expanded Radio Shack.

A larger food court with more than 500 seats, more than double the current seating, will also open, offering a wider selection of dining and snack options for hungry or tired shoppers.

"The expansion means Northgate will be better able to serve the needs and desires of local shoppers," Richardson says of the near-completion of a 20-year ambition. Springbank is property manager of the mall, owned by North Bay Plaza Ltd. of Toronto.

The third and, for now, final step is the opening in May of a new 120,000-square-foot Sears in the former Wal-Mart premises. The space had to be "virtually gutted, because it (Sears) will be practically a brand new store," Richardson adds.

The first big step for the expansion was the relocation and expansion of the mall's Wal-Mart store, which officially opened in early October.

The store rang up sales that far exceeded that of Wal-Marts of similar size and placed it among the top-selling stores in Canada.

The entire project was set back from its original scheduled opening of October due to a two-month delay in obtaining steel, Richardson says.

"Naturally the retailers didn't want to open in December," Richardson says. They would have missed much of the busy Christmas season and gone almost right into the dog days of winter, he adds.

"As soon as we lost two months, we lost five."

That delay is minor compared to the delay in getting the project started when it was first proposed about 1980. The plan to attract a major department store and other outlets to the mall on North Bay's Highway 17/11 bypass soon ran into major opposition from downtown merchants and others. Time and a downturn in the economy put the expansion on the sidelines.

In May 1999, Northgate and North Bay's Downtown Improvement Area signed an agreement to work together to market the city and each other. The agreement calls for, among other things, kiosks and funding for each area to promote the other.

The effort was doubly rewarded; opposition to the expansion was limited, and last November the North Bay District Chamber of Commerce presented Northgate with the President's Award for its role in promoting development throughout the city.

Richardson says the award was appreciated and was a tangible recognition of businesses working together for the benefit of the community and each other.