Salisbury Mall

The Salisbury Mall was a one-level convert|600000|sqft|m2|sing=on regional mall located on Civic and Glen Avenues in Salisbury, Maryland. The Salisbury Mall was the first enclosed climate-controlled shopping mall on the Delmarva Peninsula. In the October 16, 1968 edition of the Daily Times in Salisbury, it was reported that the overall cost of the mall had exceeded $7 million, and the parking lot alone could accommodate 3300 vehicles. It was anchored by Sears, Hecht's, Peebles, and Food Depot.

History - 1960s

Spanning 80 acres of land, construction began in October 1967, and the official grand opening took place on October 16, 1968.At the time of its grand opening only sixteen of its forty stores were open for business, but by the holiday shopping season all of its stores were ready for business. The front page of the Daily Times in Salisbury read "Miss America will be on hand for opening of $7,000,000 mall here." The article by Mike Meise states, "Opening ceremonies and speeches are expected to be brief, according to Will Hall, mall manager ... Before the day is over, hundreds — and perhaps thousands — of shoppers or sight-seers are expected to stroll the interior mall with its illuminated fountains and planters and new shops." The "Daily Times" speculated that when fully functional, the Salisbury Mall would employ at least 1,000 workers with a payroll around $6 million per month. The Salisbury Mall was originally anchored by Sears, Hecht's (still known as The Hecht Co. at the time) and, Food Fair. The malls west wing spanned 1/10th of a mile.

Location

Its ideal location near Salisbury's downtown district, and no other regional mall competition within a fifty-mile radius, allowed the Salisbury Mall to thrive as the only regional shopping mall on the Eastern Shore of Maryland for two decades. It had a convenient location in East Salisbury on Civic and Glen Avenues, situated in between a residential neighborhood and business along U.S. Route 50. The Wicomico Youth and Civic Center was within convert|100|yd of the mall, and a city park and zoo was within walking distance. A strip mall called The Twilley Centre, which also included a Toys R Us, soon built stores to take advantage of the traffic from the mall. It was built directly behind the malls west wing. Service Merchandise also built a store within two blocks of the mall. The Salisbury Mall's only other regional mall competition was the Blue Hen Mall (now the Blue Hen Corporate Center) in Dover, Delaware (60 miles away), which opened for business in 1969, and later, the Dover Mall which opened for business in 1982. This allowed it to draw from a substantial area in excess of fifty miles in any direction for its customer base. The Salisbury Mall also enjoyed a strong tourist customer base given its location on the major roadways of the Eastern Shore of Maryland and its close proximity to the popular tourist resort Ocean City, Maryland.

Renovation and Expansion - 1970s

The mall underwent a major renovation and expansion in the mid 1970s, and an east wing was added and opened for business on September 12, 1976. The malls west section had a very classic look with pillared entrances where as the east section was more modern, though the entire building was made of white brick and stone. The malls interior flooring space was recovered with a wood parque during the renovation, replacing the original white ceramic tile.

This latest expansion would nearly double the malls size, which added two additional anchor's Hutzler's (later Peebles)and, Shoppers Food Warehouse(later Food Depot). A two screen movie theater was also added, including Friendly's , and space for nearly thirty additional stores. This would bring the total number of shops and restaurants to seventy, which now made the mall in the shape of an H.

The Mall's Peak - 1980s

The Salisbury Mall continued to flourish well into the 1980s, even though the owners at the time did little to renovate the interior or exterior mall, with the exception of its Tier 1 and 2 level stores, which did some minor renovations to keep up with the trendy styles of the 1980s. In the late 1980s Shoppers Food Warehouse closed its Salisbury location, and in its place a similar type grocery store Food Depot, opened for business, after some minor renovations. Also in the late 1980s, Hutzler's went out of business, and the anchor site was completely renovated, and converted to a Peebles department store. This would be the last major addition to the mall.

Decline - 1990s

On July 27, 1990, The Centre at Salisbury, a convert|1000000|sqft|m2|sing=on super-regional mall located just three miles (5 km) north of the Salisbury Mall, opened for business, which signaled the beginning of the end for the aging mall. The demise of the Salisbury Mall came about when it became obvious that an extension of the Salisbury bypass from Route 13 north over to Route 50 west was necessary to relieve the annual downtown congestion. It is no coincidence that The Centre at Salisbury is situated such as it is, at the juncture of two major highways -- enjoying on the one hand, local business from Route 13, and beach traffic from the bypass on the other. The Centre was built at this location with that vision in mind.

The newly built Centre at Salisbury was able to attract slightly more upscale establishments that was lacking at the Salisbury Mall, including amenities that were standard at most regional shopping malls, like a food court, and a modern 10 screen multi-plex theater (later 16 screens). Before, most shoppers would have to travel more than two hours away to the Baltimore/Washington, DC. metropolitan area, specialty outlets in nearby Delaware, or elsewhere on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Hecht's and Sears vacated in 1991 as their leases expired, relocating to the newly built centre, leaving Peebles and Food Depot as the only remaining anchors, and it would remain that way. In the early 1990s some of the remaining merchants did some minor renovations to give them a more modern updated look, but this proved fruitless, as the current owners at the time did no renovations on the mall itself, which seemed stuck in the 1970s, with its use of brown and tan colors, low ceilings, and unremarkable architecture that was more common in mall design during that time period, including keeping the original Salisbury Mall marquee sign in the parking lot that had stood since it originally opened in the late 1960s. This was far different from other malls in the region, including the newly built Centre at Salisbury, with its more glitzy appearance, including heavy use of skylights, high ceilings, marble flooring, large atriums, and use of light tones and colors, that was popular in mall design in the 1990s. By the end of 1991, due to decreasing foot traffic from losing two of its four main anchors, and more than two-thirds of its Tier 1 and 2 level stores, and the rising crime in the surrounding areas, its two-screen movie theater decided to close. At this time both of the mall's sit-down type restaurants, Friendly's and Tony's Pizza, closed as well. This was the final blow to the aging mall. Most of the remaining tenants would follow suit throughout the remainder of the decade as their leases expired, with the exception of its smallest shops.

Homicide - 1991

In the Autumn of 1991 an eighteen-year-old Salisbury State University student was murdered in the ladies bathroom of the mall in an apparent robbery attempt gone wrong. A previous homicide had occurred in a B. Dalton book store in the 1970s, when a female employee of the store was shot and killed by her estranged husband, but its shoppers quickly returned after the story had faded from local media reports. This was not the case in 1991 as this was a random stabbing of a mall shopper. The more recent homicide made most shoppers feel unsafe to shop there, and with no full-time security staff at the mall and retail already shifting to the north side of the city, it was causing a demographic shift in the area surrounding the Salisbury Mall. Reports of rising crime from nearby neighborhoods surrounding the mall soon followed, forcing even more of the mall's tenants to the newly built Centre at Salisbury.

Closing of the malls original west wing 1997-1999

The mall changed owners one last time in 1997, purchased by Salisbury Mall Associates of Baltimore, Maryland. It was obvious that the current mall owners had no intention on remodeling or renovating the structure. The new owners closed the original west wing of the mall by placing a divider made of nothing more than plywood, seperting it from the eastern wing. The western wing was allowed to quickly detoriate. Because of the mall's flat roof, leaks were often a problem. With several uncaring owners and the structure going without the most basic of upkeep and maintenance, by the late 1990s, after several unsuccessful attempts to attract the required national anchor chains, and with the original west wing section of the mall in such disrepair, there was no other option but to accept the fact that the chances of breathing new life back into the thirty year old structure was slim to none. Peebles, Food Depot, and a few antique kiosks were all that were left by 1998. Most of the remaining tenants either relocated to nearby strip malls, or simply went out of business. The nearby residents of the mall started complaining to the city of Salisbury because the structure was literally falling apart. Weeds had started to grow in the parking lot, and it was becoming nothing more than an eye sore. This debate continues to this day.

Final Years 2000-2004

The last remaining department store, Peebles, closed its doors in November 2001, leaving only Food Depot, a handful of small businesses, and a branch of Sojourner-Douglass College. The last remaining anchor Food Depot closed the following year, leaving only a few small shops and a martial arts academy. The final tenant left the mall in November 2004, enabling the building to deteriorate rapidly. It was condemned by the city of Salisbury on July 5, 2005 after a fire had erupted inside the original west wing, due to an electrical short.

Demolition 2007-2008

With the structure lying abandoned for nearly three years, demolition finally began on August 8, 2007, and was completed on November 21, 2007. The cleanup process began in December ,2007 and was completed in March, 2008. The remaining 40,000 tons of debris from the steel frame and masonry will be recycled on site and then shipped to other construction sites for reuse.

Redevelopment Plans 2008-

There has been an ongoing debate for the past several years between the owners of the property and the local community as to how this property should be used once the site has been cleared. The current plan is calling for the land to be redeveloped as a mixed-use 685 unit residential/retail complex complete with a manmade lake, which will be known as The Village at Salisbury Lake. Construction was scheduled to being in late 2008. However, with the main building contractor K. Hovnanian Homes of Maryland being granted permision to pull out of the Village at Salisbury Lake development during a recent motion hearing,granted by a Wicomico County Circuit Court judge,could cause the former mall property site to sit idle indefinitely.

Anchors

*Sears
*Hecht's (90,000 sq ft.)
*Peebles
*Food Depot

References

* cite news
url= http://wmdt.com/topstory/topstory.asp?id=2347
author=Katherine Amenta
title=Some Salisbury Residents Wonder If They Can Trust The City About Development
date=2006-09-25
publisher=WMDT

* cite news
url=http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5524676&nav=MXEF
author=Elizabeth Harrington
title=Concerns Raised About Old Salisbury Mall Property
date=2006-10-11
publisher=WorldNow and WBOC

* cite news
url= http://www.ci.salisbury.md.us/Portals/0/Press/TimelineOldMall.pdf
author=City of Salisbury, Maryland
title=Timeline Old Mall
date=2006-10-12
publisher=City of Salisbury, Maryland

* cite news
url=http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?s=6081154
author=WBOC16
title=Old Salisbury Mall Redevelopment Plan Clears Hurdle
date=2007-02-13
publisher=WorldNow and WBOC

* cite news
url= http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?s=6281099
author=Elizabeth Harrington
title=Salisbury Approves Funding for Old Mall Project
date=2007-03-26
publisher=WorldNow and WBOC

* cite news
url= http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?s=6947559
author=Kevin Leahy
title=Demolition of Old Salisbury Mall Gets Underway
date=2007-08-17
publisher=WorldNow and WBOC

* cite news
url= http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?s=7258178
author=WBOC16
title=Builder Files to Pull Out of Salisbury Redevelopment Deal
date=2007-10-24
publisher=WorldNow and WBOC

* cite news
url= http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071127/NEWS01/711270305
author=Greg Latshaw
title=Salisbury Mall development dispute ongoing
date=2007-11-27
publisher=The Daily Times

* cite news
url= http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=7906389
author=Kevin Leahy
title=Uncertainty with Development at Site of Old Salisbury Mall
date=2008-02-21
publisher=WorldNow and WBOC

* cite news
url= http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008808260344
author=Laura D'Alessandro
title=Salisbury mall project still in court
date=2008-08-26
publisher=The Daily Times

Further reading

* cite news
url= http://www.delmarvanow.com/dayinthelife/salisbury/pages/salisburystory2.html
author=Laura D’Alessandro
title=For Shore, Salisbury serves as shopping central
date=2002-12-20
publisher=The Daily Times
* cite news
url= http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007712020301
author=Joseph Gidjunis
title=Quiet downtown Salisbury searches for revival
date=2007-12-02
publisher=The Daily Times
*Delmarva Peninsula
*Eastern Shore of Maryland
*Salisbury, Maryland
*Ocean City, Maryland

External links

* [http://mallsofamerica.blogspot.com/2005/10/salisbury-mall.html Salisbury Mall article at Malls of America]
* [http://www.labelscar.com/maryland/salisbury-mall Salisbury Mall article at Labelscar]
* [http://salisburymallarchve.blogspot.com/ The Salisbury Mall Archive at Blogger]
* [http://villageatsalisburylake.com/ The Village at Salisbury Lake]