{{Short description|Shopping arcade in Ottawa, Ontario}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox shopping mall | name = Freiman Mall | image = Freiman Mall View from Rideau St 2025.JPG | image_width = | caption = Freiman Mall exterior view from Rideau Street (2025) | address = 73 Rideau Street<br />[[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]]<br />K1N 5W8 | coordinates = {{Coord|45.426|N|75.693|W|type:landmark_region:CA-ON|display=inline,title}} | opening_date = May 12, 1983 | developer = Viking Rideau | floor_area = | floors = 1 | manager = | owner = [[Hudson's Bay Company]] | publictransit = [[OC Transpo]] {{rint|ottawa|1}} ''[[Rideau station|Rideau]]'', [[Société de transport de l'Outaouais|STO]] | website = | parking = }}
'''Freiman Mall''' (French: ''Mall Freiman'') is an enclosed shopping [[arcade (architecture)|arcade]] between [[Rideau Street|Rideau]] and George Streets in [[Ottawa]], [[Ontario]], Canada, east of [[Sussex Drive]] and west of William Street. The adjacent [[Hudson's Bay (retailer)|Hudson's Bay]] department store abuts the Freiman Mall on both its north and south sides, and can be accessed from the Freiman Mall interior in [[downtown Ottawa]].
==History== [[File:A.J. Freiman on Rideau, Ottawa.jpg|thumb|left|A.J. Freiman on Rideau, 1938]] [[File:Mosgrove Street Rideau Ottawa 1938.jpg|thumb|left|Mosgrove Street, from Rideau, 1938]] [[File:Hudson's Bay in Freiman Mall 2025.JPG|thumb|Interior of the mall in 2025]] The current location of the Freiman Mall was once a public street called Mosgrove Street, located immediately to the east of the [[Freimans]] department store which was adjacent to the [[ByWard Market]] and the former [[Metropolitan Stores#The Rideau Street store|Metropolitan]] department store. The street was later renamed Freiman Street after the department store and its founder, [[Archibald Jacob Freiman]]. The Freimans department store was acquired by the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC) in 1972 and rebranded as an outlet of the company's (then) "The Bay" chain.<ref name=Ottawa>{{cite web|title=Report Ref N°: ACS2004-CCS-PEC-0014|url=http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycouncil/pec/2005/01-11/ACS2004-CCS-PEC-0014.htm|author=Planning and Environment Committee|work=City of Ottawa|access-date=23 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309191613/http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycouncil/pec/2005/01-11/ACS2004-CCS-PEC-0014.htm|archive-date=9 March 2014|date=2 December 2004|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Our History|url=http://www.hbc.com/en/history.html|publisher=[[Hudson's Bay Company]]|access-date=23 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528020925/http://www.hbc.com/en/history.html|archive-date=28 May 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In conjunction with the development of the [[Rideau Centre]] across the street, the City of Ottawa agreed in 1981 to close Freiman Street and to lease the land to the HBC for a term of 99 years in exchange for the construction of an enclosed, public pedestrian passageway connecting Rideau Street to George Street and the [[ByWard Market]], to be open 24 hours per day. Under the terms of the lease, HBC was entitled to install three kiosks related to its store within the new Freiman Mall. The company and the city would share operating and security costs, with the city's share based on the proportion of public (non-retail) floor area and the amount of time the mall would be open past the store's operating hours.<ref name="Ottawa"/>
The Freiman Mall was officially opened by Ottawa mayor [[Marion Dewar]] on May 12, 1983, at which time a [[commemorative plaque]] was unveiled within the mall honouring A. J. Freiman and his family.<ref>{{cite news|title=You are invited to the Official Opening of the Freiman Mall|newspaper=[[Ottawa Citizen]]|date=7 May 1983}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Middleton|first=Janice|title=Much-honored businessman, Lawrence Freiman, dies|newspaper=[[Ottawa Citizen]]|date=30 December 1986}}</ref>
In order to reduce the city's share of the operating and security costs, the lease was amended in 1992 to allow HBC to encroach into the Freiman Mall with its merchandise displays, as long as a minimum {{convert|6.1|m|adj=on}}-wide public passageway was maintained. So as to reduce security costs, the lease amendment also allowed the company to close the Freiman Mall during a portion of the night.<ref name="Ottawa"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
[[Category:Pedestrian malls in Canada]] [[Category:Shopping malls established in 1983]] [[Category:Shopping arcades in Canada]] [[Category:Hudson's Bay Company]] [[Category:1983 establishments in Ontario]] [[Category:Shopping malls in Ottawa]] [[Category:Pedestrian infrastructure in Ontario]]