New Elliot Lake mall to open next year

A Barrie-based company will build, own and operate a new shopping mall in Elliot Lake.

McCowan and Associates said the new facility will house 20 stores and a food court.

Project manager Rhonda Lendt said the list of tenants will bring a larger variety to Elliot Lake.

"We'll have a grocery store there, which is Foodland,” she said.

“We'll have a dollar store of storts, there will be a general merchandise store … a business supply store … and a national pet store coming in."

Lendt said the mall is scheduled to be completed in a year.

A spokesperson with the Elliot Lake and North Shore Corporation for Business said the company won the project because of its timeline for development and the overall design.

"They have interior hallways, so it's an inside mall,” said William Elliott.

“[It] has a centre food court, [a] gathering area, it's all on one level, and it’s all flat for accessibility and mobility."

It has been four months since part of the roof collapsed on the Algo Centre Mall, killing two women. A public inquiry into the incident will be underway in the new year.

Elliott said the company's design for the mall matched council's recommendations, and council voted unanimously to give the contract to McCowan and Associates.