Week of June 20, 2024

Safeway at Eastgate Mall (ARCH016307)

40 years ago (June 20, 1984)

“It’s Official: Mall is Sold”

40 years ago, the Eastgate Mall was sold for $13 million in cash, ending months of uncertainty about the Mall’s future. The Patrician Group, owners of the mall, and had run into financial troubles. A proposed expansion had never materialized, and mall tenants faced an uncertain future. The sale was positive news for Strathcona County, and the community was told that the new buyers would be undertaking an immediate expansion of the mall once the sale was approved, with a new Safeway being constructed and hopes of several major national chains moving into the mall. As the seller was quoted saying: “Sherwood Park is a lucrative retail area waiting to be tapped.”

30 years ago (June 23, 1994)

“Tilley Leaves Emergency Services: Longest Serving Firefighter Moving On”

30 years ago, Strathcona County’s longest serving career firefighter was retiring at age 53. Barry Tilley moved to the County in 1962 when Sherwood Park had only 1300 residents. He started as a volunteer firefighter and by 1967 was hired on as the County’s third career firefighter. Tilley was instrumental in creating and training the County’s many volunteer fire halls. He recalled doing emergency ambulance and first aid calls out of the back of a station wagon in the early days. “It was hard to maneuver patients in there,” he said. When asked about some of the most memorable emergencies during his career, Tilley recalled the 1987 tornado, during which he was Acting Fire Chief, the 1984 fire at Turbo Refinery, and a huge brush fire near Josephburg in the late 1980s. He had no regrets about his career choice, saying “I’d do it all over again if I had the chance.” You can learn more about the history of Strathcona County’s fire halls at the new exhibit at the Strathcona County Museum and Archives!