Mystery Mall (Columbia Mall?)

Columbia, Maryland - circa early '80s

I recently received the following e-mail (with the above photo attached) from MOA reader, Jeanine Long:

"Found this photo while going through old pictures. It is a lovely shot of an indoor fountain in a two story mall. The whole family tried to remember what mall it was but we are coming up short. We live in Northern Ohio in the Cleveland area but it may have been taken on a vacation to Baltimore or to Washington DC. Would love to know if any of your readers can remember where it came from. We know the photo was taken in either 1980 or 1981."

Well, I think I may have this mystery solved for you already. I believe it was taken inside Columbia Mall (aka The Mall in Columbia) in Columbia, Maryland. Pretty sure that's it, but if anyone out there thinks differently please comment or e-mail me your opinion. When/if I ever know the answer definitively, I'll update this post. Thanks for the great photo, Janine! :)

Mall history: 1971 - present
Developer: James W. Rouse
Current website: here
Current aerial view
Info from Wikipedia
Previous entries: 1

The Daily Mall Reader: Laurel Mall Redevelopment

A daily dose of mall-related reading...

"New Owners to Bring New Life to Laurel Mall"

Washington Post - Monday, February 5, 2007

(Excerpt) The owners of Laurel Mall last week announced a plan to turn the ailing shopping center into a walkable town center with restaurants, a movie theater and national chain retailers.

The mall has been a sore spot on Route 1 in Prince George's County for years, steadily losing traffic and tenants. Sixteen percent of store space is empty, mall owners said, with Macy's, Burlington Coat Factory and International Furniture Liquidators as anchors.

Last year, real estate investment firms Somera Capital Management of Los Angeles and AEW Capital Management of Boston bought the center for $31 million from Blackstone Group of New York. The mall had encountered financial troubles and was placed in a court-appointed receivership the year before.

Read the full article here.