Celebration turned to horror on April 23, when a rooftop parking lot above the newly opened Save-On-Foods in Metrotown's Station Square Mall collapsed.
An estimated 1,000 people, including then-Mayor Bill Copeland were inside the new store, when a 6,400-square-foot section of the roof gave way and sent 20 vehicles and the rooftop parking deck crashing into the produce section below.
Twenty-one people, including Copeland, were injured and taken to hospital, but no one was killed.
Copeland had been at the store to give a grand-opening speech.
A former firefighter, the mayor helped evacuate the space and was credited with saving lives.
All construction on the $75-million Station Square project was shut down during an investigation of the cave in, which earned the supermarket the dubious moniker “Cave-On Foods.”
Four engineers involved in the collapse were later found guilty of incompetence, negligence or professional misconduct by a five-member panel of the professional engineers governing body.
