Grand Forks, North Dakota - '60s or '70s
City Center Mall under construction. I'm not positive what year this mall originally opened, and this photo is undated, but going by the entry on Grand Forks at Wikipedia, I know it must be the '60s or '70s:
"A major downtown urban renewal project during the 1960s and 1970s saw the destruction of whole downtown blocks in favor of new office building, a city auditorium, and a new street overpass spanning the Grand Forks rail yards. Built in large part as a response to the new shopping malls in Grand Forks, the City Center Mall saw the blocking off of one whole block of South Third Street to vehicular traffic. A roof was built over the street and the entire one-block section became an indoor shopping center.Finally, the Red River Flood of 1997 devastated downtown Grand Forks, including City Center Mall (click here for a few photos), and saw to its sudden and final demise. The mall's roof was removed and the interior opened back up again to street traffic and stand-alone shops.
The City Center mall was, in large part, a failure. The 1980s and 1990s saw little development taking place downtown. Indeed, several major businesses such as Griffith's Department Store, Norby's Department Store, and Silverman's clothing store either moved elsewhere within the city or shuttered their doors."
Mall history: ? - 1997
Current website: n/a
Previous entries: none
Now if only we could get a developer to build something like this today ;)
ReplyDeleteI remember this mall, it was bulit in 1979 just after the flood and one year after Columbia Mall was built south of town. The main reason it was bulit was that one the long time downtown store owners Sam Silverman, did not want to leave the his 3rd street location. He had thought the Columbia Mall would fall flat and people would come back and shop downtown with local retailers. It could have worked if it was more than just a new roof enclosing the street and a new cement floor, none of the store fronts were given a face lift and it was always pretty dark and dreary in there.
ReplyDeleteIndeed it is a shame that this one didn't made it through, because it is a cool mall, very different from the normal malls we see today.
ReplyDelete