During lunch hour, a line sometimes forms outside the Washington Mall’s Delicious eatery, and that makes Washington Properties general manager Paul Slaughter very happy.

Mr Slaughter said: “That is going back to the way things were before the pandemic. We are seeing a lot more foot traffic in the mall.”

Mr Slaughter was speaking after a special proclamation by Hamilton town crier Edward Christopher, on Thursday, commemorating the mall’s 50th birthday. The proclamation was held on the ground floor at 12.30pm, and attended by the Mayor of Hamilton, Charles Gosling, and Kendaree Burgess, the chief executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce.

“In terms of our retail, before the pandemic, we were at 86 per cent occupancy,” Mr Slaughter said. “We are now back to 85 per cent. In terms of our office space, it was at 54 per cent and it is now up to 66 per cent, so we are actually gaining more office space.”

Mr Slaughter has been with Washington Properties for 23 years, and said the majority of their staff had been with them for a long time.

Mr Gosling said: “We are happy to partner with the mall, because this is Bermuda’s largest shopping centre, making it the heart of Hamilton. With all the developments that have happened over the last 15 to 20 years, with additional office space, this really has become the heart of the city.”

He said the nice thing about the Washington Mall is that it is constantly refurbishing to keep up with the times.

“We just redid the flooring,” Mr Slaughter said.

And he said four years ago they spent $4 million on a new air-conditioning system. The Washington Lane has also been refurbished with the help of the Corporation of Hamilton.

“I was dreading the whole project, but it went very quickly,” Mr Gosling said.

“If you looked in here right now, you would not believe in any spot, that it is 50 years old, and they are to be commended for that,” Mr Gosling said. “I look forward to another 50 years of great stewardship of the Washington Mall.”