The land around Grant Park was first developed with the introduction of the Harte Subdivision for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in 1908. From the 1920s to late 1950s, the Grant Park area was the location of a Métis community known as Rooster Town. The difficulty of procuring affordable housing close to other members of the Métis community led families to build their own housing on this land. Throughout the 1950s, residents were under increasing pressure from developers to relocate. In 1959, the remaining residents were evicted and their homes were burnt or torn down. Rooster Town has been described by Lawrie Barkwell, senior historian, Louis Riel Institute, as a "working-class community with a vibrant culture." Recent scholarship, such as the book Rooster Town: The History of an Urban Métis Community, 1901-1961 by Evelyn Peters, Matthew Stock and Adrian Werner and an article by David G. Burley in Urban History Review / Revue d'histoire urbaine explore the long-hidden history of this community. The University of Manitoba also hosts an online archive about Rooster Town. Developed by Aronovitch & Leipsic, Phase I broke ground and opened in 1962 with a few detached buildings opening in 1964 and it became an enclosed shopping mall in 1969. The mall completed an extensive renovation of the common areas in 1989, and changed its marketing name from Grant Park Plaza to Grant Park Shopping Centre featuring a new logo. The mall began a four-year renovation starting in 2012 and ending in 2016.
Stores
The eastern end of the mall was originally anchored by discount department storeWoolco, constructed approximately two years after the mall first opened and subject of a lawsuit appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Woolco store was bought out and converted to Walmart in 1994. This same location was vacated by Walmart in 2001 and replaced by Zellers. This Zellers location closed on February 11, 2013. The location was then occupied by Target from November 2013 to April 2015. Canadian Tire took over roughly 75% of the space in 2016 and remainder was leased to GoodLife Fitness which opened in 2016. As part of the renewal of Grant Park Shopping Centre and after Dominion Stores left Western Canada in 1984, the Safeway supermarket was moved to the Dominion Store space in 1989. In the 1970s and 1980s a videogame and pinball arcade known as The Pirate's Den operated in the space now taken by the mid-mall washrooms. After home videogames became more popular and during the 1989 renovations of the mall, the arcade was closed. Further renovations in the mid-1990s made for the opening of Winnipeg's largest McNally Robinson Bookseller location in order to compete with the Chaptersretail chain. On June 27, 2013, Empire Theatres announced that it will be selling this theatre location along with 22 others in Western Canada and Ontario to Landmark Cinemas. The mall has approximately 70 stores and services. It is anchored by Red River Co-op, Manitoba Liquor Mart, Shoppers Drug Mart, Landmark Cinemas, Canadian Tire and McNally Robinson. The Liquor Mart at Grant Park is the largest in the province. The former Target location's lease was sold to Canadian Tire and they were opened on June 23, 2016. 2 new pad sites were built on the lot during 2016-2017; Cambrian Credit Union and Fionn MacCool's Pub.
