Old Town Mall

Last updated

Old Town Mall
Oldtown Mall
New York Fashions PLUS.JPG
An abandoned storefront with the mall in the background
Old Town Mall
LocationBaltimore, Maryland
Coordinates 39°17′47″N76°36′14″W / 39.2963°N 76.6038°W / 39.2963; -76.6038
Address500 N. Gay Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Opening date1818;206 years ago (1818) (stores open), 1968;56 years ago (1968) (the mall itself opened) [1]
No. of stores and services64
No. of anchor tenants 1 (closed) [2]
Public transit access Johns Hopkins Hospital, Shot Tower/Market Place,

The Old Town Mall or Oldtown Mall is a mostly abandoned outdoor pedestrian shopping mall in the Old Town neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. The mall contains 64 stores, the majority of which are closed. The area has seen many periods of revival and decline in the past 200 years since its opening, [1] and there are currently[ when? ] plans by developers in the area to revitalize the mall. [3]

Contents

History

The closed "New York Fashions PLUS" store Old Town Mall.jpg
The closed "New York Fashions PLUS" store

Old Town and Gay Street started to become a retail area when the City of Baltimore built the Bel Air Market in 1818. The sixth market to be constructed, Bel Air was designed to be a relief farmers market to serve the increasing commercial operations surrounding the area. [1] The market helped boost business in Old Town, and the area became a diverse, bustling middle-class neighborhood, and the proximity to the city center made it an ideal place for families and downtown workers to live. [4] Isaac Benesch’s Great Store was here. [5] But, when the post-war era beckoned families to the suburbs, Gay Street suffered greatly. The population near the street fell, and Old Town became one of the poorer areas of the city. Without its customer base, the shops on the street were forced to close or adapt to the new customer demographic. [4]

Redevelopment and decline

The Baltimore riot of 1968 was a turning point in the area. The City of Baltimore used the devastation as a way to revitalize Gay Street. Developers decided to convert the street into a pedestrian-only zone and name it the Old Town Mall. The street was repaved with bricks; planters, street lamps, and trees were added; and even a fountain was installed in the center along with a clock tower that would bear the name of the mall. More than $1.7 million had been spent on the project. [6] In the late 1960s, the area opened with "much fanfare". Government officials from across the country were in attendance. One newspaper wrote that "Good things are happening in Old Town". [4]

By the 1980s, the area had already started resembling what it looked like before the revitalization, due to the fact that the city didn't remedy the high unemployment and poverty in Old Town. A few unsuccessful attempts were made to bring life back to the area, one involved tearing down the Bel Air Market to build a parking lot in hopes that a major grocery store chain would build a location at the mall. The area has been mostly unchanged since then. [7]

The mall once contained a 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) Kaufman's department store in the former Benesch building, the only anchor. Today, a haunted house operates from this building each October since 2015. [8]

On March 25, 2015, two men were shot in the afternoon hours at the mall. [9] Later, police arrested two men in connection with the shootings. [10]

Restoration plans

Starting in 2016, developers from the Baltimore area emerged with plans to restore the area, capitalizing on the proximity to Johns Hopkins Hospital. Some plans include restoring Gay Street through the mall to increase business opportunities from car traffic. The redeveloped site could include new housing, office, and commercial space, and it could also include a farmer's market. [11]

Related Research Articles

James Wilson Rouse was an American businessman and founder of The Rouse Company. Rouse was a pioneering American real estate developer, urban planner, civic activist, and later, free enterprise-based philanthropist. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award, for his lifetime achievements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glen Burnie, Maryland</span> Census-designated place in Maryland, United States

Glen Burnie is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. It is a suburb of Baltimore. The population was 72,891 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harborplace</span> Shopping mall in Baltimore, Maryland

Harborplace is a shopping complex on the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilde Lake, Columbia, Maryland</span> Reservoir in Wilde Lake Columbia

Wilde Lake is a human-made drainage reservoir dug in 1966 and the name of the surrounding "village" of neighborhoods located in Columbia, Maryland, just north and west of Columbia Town Center. The village was the first part of Columbia's "New Town" to be built in the late 1960s, James W. Rouse and Frazar B. Wilde formally opened the neighborhood on June 21, 1967. The lake and village are named for Frazar B. Wilde, a past chairman of the board of Connecticut General Life Insurance Company and former employer of James Rouse. In 1963, the company agreed to fund the secret land purchases and, in return, acquired an equity participation. This arrangement was subsequently formalized by the creation of The Howard Research and Development Corporation, the joint venture established to develop Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Town Chinatown</span> Neighborhood in Portland, Oregon, United States

Old Town Chinatown is the official Chinatown of the northwest section of Portland, Oregon. The Willamette River forms its eastern boundary, separating it from the Lloyd District and the Kerns and Buckman neighborhoods. It includes the Portland Skidmore/Old Town Historic District and the Portland New Chinatown/Japantown Historic District, which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been referred to as the "skid row" of Portland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shops at Rivercenter</span> Shopping mall in Texas, United States

The Shops at Rivercenter is a shopping mall located in Downtown San Antonio, Texas, United States along the city's River Walk. The anchor stores are H&M, Macy's and AMC Theatres. It also includes a 38-story, 1,001-room Marriott hotel. It was purchased in 2005 by Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TownMall of Westminster</span> Shopping mall

TownMall of Westminster, formerly Cranberry Mall, is a shopping mall located in Westminster, Maryland, United States on Maryland Route 140, 30 miles northwest of Baltimore. Owned by Westminster Mall LLC, and managed by The Woodmont Company. The mall features more than 20 stores, including a food court and Movie Theater. Belk, Boscov's, Dick's Sporting Goods, and RC Theaters are the mall's anchors. It's the only enclosed regional shopping center in Carroll County. The mall has recently been wired for fiber internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Security Square Mall</span> Shopping mall in Maryland, U.S.

Security Square Mall is a mall in Woodlawn, Baltimore County, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore, in the United States. The mall features over 100 stores and restaurants, as well as a food court. One section of the mall, Grand Village Plaza, previously included Korean shops and restaurants; however, most of these establishments had closed by 2010. Security Square Mall is located adjacent to the North American School of Trades. The anchor stores are Bayit Furniture, Set the Captives Free Outreach Center, Burlington, and Macy's. There is 1 vacant anchor store that was once Sears.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Owings Mills Mall</span> Former shopping mall in Owings Mills, Maryland

Owings Mills Mall was a shopping mall in Owings Mills, Maryland, United States that hosted 155 stores and eateries, in the Baltimore County, Maryland, community of Owings Mills. It was owned and managed by General Growth Properties. While its main entrance was off Red Run Boulevard between Painters Mill Road and Owings Mills Boulevard, the mall was also accessible from the exit ramps of I-795. It was originally known as Owings Mills Town Center. The mall was completely demolished in 2017, and redeveloped in 2019 as Mill Station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Baltimore Hotel</span> United States historic place

The Lord Baltimore Hotel is located at 20 West Baltimore Street, on the northeast corner of the intersection with North Hanover Street, and one block west of the main downtown thoroughfare of North Charles Street, in the downtown area of Baltimore, Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barclay, Baltimore</span> Neighborhood of Baltimore in Maryland, United States

Barclay is a neighborhood in the center of Baltimore City. Its boundaries, as defined by the City Planning Office, are marked by North Avenue, Greenmount Avenue, Saint Paul and 25th Streets. The neighborhood lies north of Greenmount West, south of Charles Village, west of East Baltimore Midway, and east of Charles North and Old Goucher. The boundary between the Northern and Eastern police districts runs through the community, cutting it roughly in half.

The Rotunda is a mixed-use property in northern Baltimore, Maryland in the popular neighborhood of Hampden, adjacent to the neighborhoods of Roland Park, and Wyman Park and near the campus of the Johns Hopkins University. The property features retail, office, and residential components including: 150,000 ft² of retail space, 140,000 ft² of office space, 379 apartments and over 1100 off-street parking spaces, including a multi-level parking garage featuring several electric car charging stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Shops at Kenilworth</span> Shopping mall in Maryland, United States

The Shops at Kenilworth is a mall in Towson, Maryland. It has more than 30 stores. The mall opened in 1979 as the Kenilworth Bazaar. The original anchor stores were Stebbins Anderson and Hochschild Kohn's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harford Mall</span> Shopping mall in Maryland, United States

The Harford Mall is a shopping mall owned by CBL & Associates Properties that is located near the junction of Maryland Route 24 and U.S. Route 1, about 32 miles (51 km) north of Baltimore, in Bel Air, Maryland, United States. Its anchor is Macy's. It is the only shopping mall in Harford County, Maryland. The mall was built on the previous site of the Bel Air Racetrack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheila Dixon trial</span> 2009 trial of the mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, US

The trial of Sheila Dixon, then mayor of Baltimore, started on November 9, 2009. It was the first of two scheduled trials for Dixon on a variety of charges. The charges stemmed from alleged corruption on the part of the mayor involving gifts she allegedly received and gift cards she allegedly stole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carousel Mall</span> Former shopping mall in San Bernardino, California

The Carousel Mall, also known as Central City Mall, was a mixed-use two-story shopping mall located in San Bernardino, California, along the city's former main downtown street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Baltimore protests</span> Protests against police brutality in Baltimore, Maryland

On April 12, 2015, Baltimore Police Department officers arrested Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American resident of Baltimore, Maryland. Gray's neck and spine were injured while he was in a police vehicle and he went into a coma. On April 18, there were protests in front of the Western district police station. Gray died on April 19.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Baltimore Innovation District</span> Innovation district in Maryland, United States

The West Baltimore Innovation Village District is a neighborhood district of Baltimore City that will specialize in attracting startup companies and other employers to West Baltimore. Following the Death of Freddie Gray and the subsequent 2015 Baltimore protests, government leaders decided to launch the innovation district as a way to attract redevelopment and revitalization to the areas hardest hit by the protests. The district includes the neighborhoods of Mondawmin, Coppin Heights, Penn-North, Reservoir Hill and Bolton Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Floyd protests in Maryland</span> 2020 civil unrest after the murder of George Floyd

This is a list of protests related to the murder of George Floyd that took place in Maryland, United States.

The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Maryland.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Old Town Mall". Baltimore Heritage. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  2. Ryan Sharrow (16 June 2016). "A drone flew over the abandoned Old Town Mall, showing the need for a redevelopment (editorial)". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  3. "Big-name developers team up to tackle Old Town Mall". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "Nothing new with Old Town Mall". Darkroom.baltimoresun.com. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  5. "Great House of Isaac Benesch and Sons".
  6. "Retro Baltimore, Now-and-then pictures: Old Town Mall in East". Retrobaltimore.tumblr.com. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  7. "Old Town Mall waits for rescue after years of decline, neglect - tribunedigital-baltimoresun". Articles.baltimoresun.com. 21 July 2003. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  8. "The Nevermore Haunt" . Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  9. "2 men shot at Old Town Mall to survive | Maryland News - WBAL Home". Wbaltv.com. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  10. "Man arrested in Old Town Mall double shooting | Maryland News - WBAL Home". Wbaltv.com. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  11. Melody Simmons (1 June 2016). "Exclusive: Old Town Mall redevelopment plan set to expand again". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved 27 July 2016.