In the 1960s, when Bramalea existed as an independent and fast-growing town, area planners implemented a master plan to oversee local development. Included in this master plan was a series of residential areas, industrial development, open parks, and amongst other things, a central shopping centre. An eighty-five acre site, situated in the heart of Bramalea, was designated for mall development. Bramalea Consolidated Developments Limited, the local real estate developer responsible for developing much of Bramalea since the late 1950s, began mall construction towards the end of the decade on what was then the largest retail development in North America. The first phase of construction entailed the "service centre" portion of the mall at the north end, about 75,000 square feet consisting of a Food City grocery store, LCBO, and various other small shops and offices, completed by 1971. The second phase added 600,000 square feet of mall space, including a two-level Eaton's, the two-level main mall corridor of 300,000 square feet stretching east to another anchor store yet to have a tenant, and Steinberg's retail space to the south, consisting of an 80,000 square foot Miracle Mart department store and a 20,000 square foot Miracle Food Mart supermarket, both next to each other on the upper level. Construction was completed in 1973, as the surrounding landscape experienced rapid change as the result of a population boom. The Bramalea City Centre had its grand opening on March 28, 1973; this was only four years after Brampton's first mall, Shoppers World Brampton, opened its doors in 1969. Initially opening with 160 outlets, Bramalea City Centre housed various retail stores, large anchor store tenants, grocery stores, restaurants and even a hardware store and a movie theatre. The nearby Bramalea Civic Centre was also constructed around this time in the early 1970s, housing various municipal government offices, a theatre and the Brampton Public Library's Chinguacousy branch. There was a short tunnel under Team Canada Dr. connecting the mall and Civic Centre outside areas, visible in early aerial imagery but since removed. Although Bramalea later became part of the city of Brampton during a 1974 amalgamation, the Bramalea City Centre, Brampton's largest mall, retained the name of the original community in which it was built. Mall expansion continued throughout the 1980s and 1990s under Bramalea Limited and Trizec Corporation ownership and operation, including a northwest wing extension for the present Sears store location, and new bus terminal in 1991. A $6.5-million 150-room Holiday Inn hotel, various separate external stores, and the Region of Peeloffice buildings were built within the malls' site boundaries, but were not directly connected to the main mall. Bramalea Limited underwent financial hardships in the early 1990s recession that forced the company to start to liquidate much of its real estate holdings to try to remain a going concern, but eventually the company went into bankruptcy in April 1995, and a number of creditors acquired various real estate holdings. Ownership of the Bramalea City Centre went to the Toronto-Dominion Bank. In 1997, shareholder Gentra Inc. bought the rest of TD's stake in the mall. In 2002, the Bramalea City Centre was acquired by its current joint owners, Canadian real estate firmMorguard Corporation and a third party institutional investor. In 2004, the mall underwent a $165-million reconstruction to improve all common areas. The renovation was completed in eight months, a majority of which was done during the night while the mall was closed. Upper and ground level corridors at the southwest end of the mall mainly composed of smaller tenant stores were removed in favour of larger store space occupying these areas for Old Navy, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Best Buy. Additional renovation projects were carried out in 2005 and 2006, revamping the food court, escalators, and other areas of the mall. Petroff Partnership Architects was in charge of the redesign; construction was carried out by Vanbots Construction. Another $165-million expansion project opened in September 2010. It created 417,292 square feet of underground parking space, six new pad buildings constructed on the property, 325,000 square feet of new retail area on two levels, a new architectural centerpiece at the northwest corner of the property, and relocated loading docks and chiller units. The mall has housed several large retailers in the past. These include Sears, Eaton's, Kmart, Zellers, Target, Miracle Mart, Food City, Kitchen Stuff Plus and Beaver Lumber. Brampton Transit's Bramalea Terminal was moved in 2010 from its original site on the southeast side of the mall to a location to the north, to accommodate the Zümbus rapid transit service on Queen Street.
In popular media
In 2014, the film Room was partially filmed at the Bramalea City Centre. Parts of BCC used for the filming include the Main Entrance, North Food Court, and parts of the upper level of the shopping centre.
