A crowd of hungry mall patrons descended upon free food samples and people posed for selfies with mascots at the New Sudbury Centre Feb. 28 as the mall celebrated the completion of renovations to its food court.
The mall sank $1.8 million into modernizing the food court — now dubbed The Canteen — with elements such as increased seating and new lighting. It's the first major renovation the facility has undergone since 1984.
Ownership of the New Sudbury Centre changed hands to HOOPP Realty Inc. a little more than three years ago. It's managed by Morguard Investments Ltd.
“So when we came in, one of the things we noticed was the food court was really dated,” said Jenny Beckerton, general manager of the New Sudbury Centre.
“It was basically like a blank canvas … We thought there's a lot of potential for this food court, and so we decided to update it and renovate it.”
And now? “It's definitely more modern, contemporary,” Beckerton said. “It's a clean, crisp design, a lot more comfortable. There's definitely a 'wow' factor.”
The renovations made room for two new food kiosks, Booster Juice and Kernels, bringing the total number of food service tenants to 12.
The Booster Juice kiosk, owned by Sudburians Dean and Diana Derro, opened last October, selling products such as fresh-squeezed juice and smoothies. “The response has been overwhelming,” Diana said.
She said she thinks the food court looks great now. “This is such a beautiful, fresh look,” Diana said. “The mall has done a wonderful job.”
