A teenager filmed West Edmonton Mall in 1986 and it's going viral 40 years later

A newly resurfaced home video is offering Edmontonians a rare look at West Edmonton Mall as it appeared in 1986, just before the fatal Mindbender roller coaster accident.

The video was shot on a Video8 camera by an 18-year-old Woodward’s employee, Ken Eckert. While it was never shot with the intention of the whole world being able to view it, it has since become a time capsule of a bygone era.

“I, of course, didn’t anticipate YouTube in 1986, but I kept a VHS copy for myself for posterity, thinking it might be enjoyable to watch in future,” he explained to Daily Hive.

The footage was filmed in June 1986, when Eckert was working his first real job as a camera clerk at Woodward’s Southgate. After the store began selling a new line of Video8 cameras, he was asked to demonstrate the technology.

“My supervisors asked me to take the camera around Edmonton and film some scenery to show off the camera’s capabilities.” West Edmonton Mall, still new and internationally famous at the time, was an obvious choice.

While many areas of the mall, like the Ice Palace, World Waterpark, and the fountains, are instantly recognizable, the video shows a noticeably greener, livelier space than the minimalist mallscape of today.

“Some long for a time when West Edmonton Mall was much more vibrant and had lots of people, and when the mall was new and full of interesting attractions.”

Much of the video is shot inside Galaxyland, including a full ride through of the Mindbender roller coaster. The footage was captured in June, shortly before the tragic accident on June 14, 1986, that killed three people, though Eckert said he doesn’t recall the exact date he filmed the roller coaster.

“But many ask me what day I filmed it, because they want to know exactly how long before the Mindbender accident it was made — I don’t remember the exact weekday, unfortunately,” he said, adding some have claimed they can hear the warning sounds in the ride’s operation.

While Eckert’s video at the time well received by customers, he said following the accident, Woodward’s decided to pull the footage from store screens.

“[They felt] it was too macabre or disrespectful to the victims to show footage of the Mindbender so soon after the tragic accident,” he explained. “Woodward’s was good like that — they were attentive to the local Edmonton community.”

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Beyond the Mindbender, the video captures other long-gone rides, including what used to be in the place of the Space Shot.

But while some things are gone, others remain, like the food court Taco Time and the golden elevators in Europa Boulevard.

The Ice Palace once featured greenery, but its removal has likely been a net positive for spectators who fill the space for hockey tournaments and skating competitions year-round.

The video ends with scenes near the Muttart Conservatory and a quaint view of downtown Edmonton.

While its original intent was for a video store demo, the video has drawn interest from people all over. For Eckert, the reaction has been unexpected.

“I have been very surprised at the interest taken in the video,” he said. “To me, 1986 is not so long ago, but the video images are, of course, very new and different for people who weren’t around then.”

Since his first real job at Woodward’s Southgate, Eckert has gone on to become an English literature professor in Ansan, South Korea. He is also the author of Shorter of Breath, a novel set in Edmonton about a bored millennial, a space alien, and a time-travelling trip back to the 1970s.