1970's Vintage HUD and the City of Middletown

  

Construction pics of City Centre Mart/Mall, Middletown, Oh circa 1970s

In browsing through the Middletown Public Library's online historical collection, I came across several construction pictures from the early 1970s of Middletown's City Centre Mart (renamed Mall at some point).  I thought I would share them here.  Most are in Black and White.

Plans to make downtown Middletown more suburban actually began in the late 1950s with an experiment that shut off Central Ave to vehicle traffic and created the pedestrian Central Plaza.  I'm not quite sure how long this lasted, but at some point in the 1960s, a local artist was asked to create some renderings of new storefronts for buildings along Central Ave.  One of those renderings appears below:



By the late 1960s, a new direction was taken (probably because the Middletown received several millions in federal dollars) to enclosed the intersection of Central and Broad Streets and extend that enclosure 500 feet in each direction to created an indoor, climate controlled mall.  The old intersection would serve as the focal point with a large fountain.   Next is a rendering of the mall's inside that must have been developed during the planning stages:



The remaining pictures are mostly of the canopy's construction.  Part of the project involved removing old, deteriotated buildings.  You get a chance to see how the area looked before the mall and before some of the buildings were torn down.

























Both the Filson's and Weber's buildings were casualties of the mall's construction:


And finally, a completed entrance.   This was known as the West Entrance at Main Street and what was Central.  Each entrance had some sort of public artwork or fountain.


The mall's removal began in the early 2000s and the project was completed in Winter 2003.  I have posted some pics in the forum on how the area looks today.  I have some pics of the mall prior and during its removing, but they aren't electronic.

 

As someone now 62+ years old, I regret that I did not live here while growing up.  It makes me sad to read the recollections of Viet Vet as we both are about the same age.  Middletown was (and still can be) a stable, environmentally pleasant community.  One Donham Plaza senior staff would do well to provide real citizen participation opportunities for local business people and concerned older neighborhood residents.  There seems to be too many of the "usual suspects" always being appointed to special committees, etc.

 

Finding these photographs quite by accident today was very interesting for this Missourian.  In my home town of Springfield, MO we had a once thriving downtown.  About the same time as here, HUD funds were sought and approved to close off four main thoroughfares radiating out from a so-called public square.  In the 1990's this city of now 150,000+ removed the pedestrian covered mall and re-introduced vehicular traffic.  Unfortunately, an outlying mall and big box retailers siphoned off what was the core of the city.  It is now experiencing some rejuvination thanks to the presence of Missouri State University, downtown loft apartment redevelopment and expanding entertainment venues.

 

I sincerely feel the pain of the decent citizens of Middletown like Viet Vet, Steve Dillman, Walter Leap, Vivian Moon, Nick Kidd, Bert Grimes, Rosa Lean Lindsey, Paul Renwick, Mike Presta, etc. who only seek hope for a return to better days.

 

Nelson Self

Although the idea was a failure, I do miss the old mall sometimes.

Swallens?

Dohn's?

Rogers retail and corporate?

Troup Furniture?

A shoe shine?

 

The "peoples' plan" for that area?

Shouldn't the city admin's plan resemble the desire and benefit to the large majority of the "people"?

 

We have tried an "Art district" since Beau Verre was created and financed by our city leaders.

Still waiting on those caravans of tourists coming for tours of the facility, lodging at the Manchester, dining at 56 Degrees, the Medicine/Soda/Cajun spot across the street.

"Got Art"--"MiddletOWN it"--"Thatcher's plan--Blakely/Isroff/Banks plan--ACF events and music festivals.

Not to mention new store fronts on empty,decaying buildings(don't we have NEWER store fronts on the horizon?

All with AIM struggling just down the road.

Is this another weak justification of the Paducah folly?

 

Face it--tens of millions of dollars spent in the area over 40 years to look like it does today.

Looks worse now than ever.

 

The "peoples' plan" could have hardly fared worse and/or been more costly.

Not to mention decades wasted.