Pearson Plaza
Pearson Plaza is a small indoor shopping complex in Elliot Lake, Ontario. Located on the site of a former rock (later Huron Lodge), at Hillside Drive South and Ontario Avenue, it replaced the Algo Centre Mall, which was demolished after a tragic collapse. It was planned to open in fall 2015, but the mall's first store, a Foodland grocery store, opened on April 1, 2016, and then Turner's department store on December 6, 2016. Dollarama opened in January 2017, the library opened in May and the two-restaurant food court opened in summer 2017 with Chantis  Fresh Cafe, owned by Turners Elliot Lake. In May 2018 Chantis was sold and became CC’S Bistro & Café. In May 2019, Turners Department Store and CC's Bistro & Cafe closed. A Hart Home Store opened in December 2020. Funding and design. 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 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 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. Naming. 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 Member of Parliament for Algoma East, including Elliot Lake, from 1948 to 1968.