On this day in 1985, divers were attempting to rescue one of West Edmonton Mall's four submarines from the depths.
The marine mishap happened during a test of the Deep Sea Adventure ride, which opened at the mall later in 1985. The 40-tonne submarine apparently performed a little too well, as it fell off a track and sank to the bottom of the mall's artificial lake. All of this happened the day after the wreck of the Titanic was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean, the Edmonton Journal noted at the time. Unlike the Titanic, though, getting the submarine working again was a pretty quick fix.
The Prairies aren't exactly the natural habitat for submarines, so it's a bit strange that West Edmonton Mall had four of them inside the same building (not to be confused with Edmonton's HMCS Nonsuch, which is a building that is also a ship. The mall would load up passengers into one of its four subs and take them on an underwater tour of its artificial lake, which was five metres deep. The subs had portholes installed, which allowed riders to observe the marine life in the aquariums that lined the lake's walls, as well as the artificial decorations and animatronics (including a giant motorized clam that inspired two weeks of nightmares for at least one future history columnist).
The West Edmonton Mall subs were the real deal — they were the first recreational submarines in the world at that time and were deep-sea tested by the Vancouver company that built them for the mall. Each of the subs cost $900,000. They were popular, too. The ride opened as part of the mall's Phase III expansion, which also brought the waterpark, the former dolphin show, Bourbon Street, and a replica of the Santa Maria, now known as The Ship. The submarines drew in residents and tourists alike. The Deep Sea Adventure ride also generated international attention, mentioned in newspapers like the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times shortly after opening. And, perhaps most importantly, the ride gave dads all over Edmonton the chance to repeatedly joke about West Edmonton Mall having four submarines to the Canadian Navy's three.
But the popularity of subs didn't last forever. By the late 1990s, ticket sales were in decline and the subs were diving only half full. Maintaining a fleet of decade-old submarines also turned out to be expensive. By 1997, the ride was losing around $100,000 a year. Some attempts were made to sell the subs, but there were no takers. In 2005, the ride was decommissioned and the four subs were parked in various locations around the lake as decorations.
The subs met their end in 2012 when the mall decided to have them taken apart. The month-long operation involved cutting the subs into chunks that could be lifted out by a crane. While the submarines are long gone, much of the old Deep Sea Adventure ride still exists in the mall's lake. A few years ago, a YouTube channel dedicated to the mall did an underwater tour of the remaining decorations and artifacts from the ride.
Despite being gone for more than a decade, the West Edmonton Mall submarines remain submerged in the memories of many Edmontonians. The complex, often strange history of the mall was featured in Big Mall by writer Kate Black, published earlier this year.
This clipping was found on Vintage Edmonton, a daily look at Edmonton's history from armchair archivist @revRecluse of @VintageEdmonton.