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Woodbine Centre

The iconic neon sign (or what was left if it), this photo was taken shortly before the current owner tore the whole thing out in 2015.

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I was going to write that the one good thing Woodbine has now is EB games since the one at the former Rexdale mall has closed permanently. Although doing a search on the EB site doesn't list either as a location anymore so perhaps this one bit the dust too. I used to spend a lot of time here and still occasionally came pre covid once in a while.

Rainbow and imagine cinemas was the best $5 movie on Tuesdays and they usually played everything cineplex played. Sad to see that gone too.
 
I was going to write that the one good thing Woodbine has now is EB games since the one at the former Rexdale mall has closed permanently. Although doing a search on the EB site doesn't list either as a location anymore so perhaps this one bit the dust too. I used to spend a lot of time here and still occasionally came pre covid once in a while.

Rainbow and imagine cinemas was the best $5 movie on Tuesdays and they usually played everything cineplex played. Sad to see that gone too.
Still remember when EB Games first opened there. Not long after Rexdale Plaza's demolition in 2004. The staff were always kind
and even held older PS2 games for me.

With Steam and other game servers, do people still buy their video games physically anymore? EB Games at Woodbine could be next
(in case it already hasn't been axed, too).
 
Based on my search through the site i think it has been axed, otherwise it would've been my go to. I still buy games physically when I can. I got my classic SNES at woodbine a couple years back.
 
I remember watching Black Panther here a few years ago. The mall was a total ghost town, even at 7 p.m. The merry-go-round felt like something out of an 80s horror movie. Are there any redevelopment proposals yet?
 
Just going to leave this very sad picture here of Imagine Cinemas. Photo credit goes to Eugenio Arcilesi from the "Rexdale - Old photos" facebook group

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Since Kade is still being held hostage by Woodbine security, let's go back to a time before the Woodbine Centre even existed.
Here's some vintage aerial shots:

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The intersection of Highway 27 and Rexdale Boulevard in 1947.

If it looks like there's nothing there but farmland, well, you'd be right. Rexdale wasn't founded until
1955 when Rex Heslop (for which the community is named) purchased farmland in the area.

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1983 view - two years before the Woodbine Centre was opened. You'll notice a lot of development to the area
including the Woodbine Racetrack, Ascot Inn, Humber College and Etobicoke General Hospital.


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Back on ground level, this vintage shot was taken from Rexdale Boulevard heading towards Highway 27. The Ascott Inn and
BP Gas station are on the left while the Woodbine racetrack would be on the right of this photo.

The open field area in the top left corner would eventually become the Woodbine Centre.
 

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