Camillus Plaza

Camillus Mall (now known as Camillus Commons) was a shopping mall in Camillus, New York.

Camillus Plaza

Camillus Plaza opened in 1964 as a strip mall on the site of a former Kallet drive-in theater.cite web| url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3718/is_199912/ai_n8878075| author=Paul Allen| title=Camillus Mall to Lose Major Anchor in January| publisher=CNY Business Journal| date=1999-12-03| accessmonthday=February 19| accessyear=2007 ] [cite web| url=http://cinematreasures.org/theater/8789/| title=Kallet Drive-In, Camillus, NY| publisher=Cinema Treasures| accessmonthday=February 19| accessyear=2007 ] [cite web| url=http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/13802.html| title=Kallet Drive-In Theatre| publisher=CinemaTour| accessmonthday=February 19| accessyear=2007 ] Early anchors included A&P and P&C supermarkets, E.W. Edwards, Witherill's, and WT Grant department stores, Goldberg's Furniture and Anderson Little. After Edwards and WT Grant left, they were replaced by JC Penney and a Price Chopper supermarket respectively. In 1981 an enclosed "mall" section was opened, with a two-screen movie theatre (originally CinemaNational, then USA Cinemas, Loews, and finally Hoyts), and a new Kmart anchoring the far end. However, much of the original plaza retained its strip mall format. An aptly named "Mall Entrance" took the place of the strip mall's original Anderson-Little store, and Anderson-Little relocated to the enclosed mall. Silo added a store on the back side of the strip mall, facing the new enclosed section, but not connecting to it. Price Chopper closed in 1982, and made way for Hills. [cite web| url=http://blog.syracuse.com/indepth/2008/01/pugh0308hja1.pdf|author=Joseph A. Porcello|title=2 new stores, company's expansion to add 425 jobs|publisher=Post Standard, The (Syracuse, NY)| date=1983-03-09|accessmonthday=February 15| accessyear=2008]

Camillus Mall

In 1984, most of the remaining strip mall was enclosed. As part of this conversion, Witherill's was replaced by Hess's.cite web| url=http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb4298/is_198408/ai_n14959911| title=Hess's 2 new Syracuse units exceed projected sales by 30%| publisher=Daily News Record| date=August, 1984| accessmonthday=February 14| accessyear=2008 ] <, P&C moved to a newly constructed freestanding store at the corner of the plaza's property, and an additional entrance was added to JC Penney so mall patrons could enter the store without leaving the enclosed mall. Additionally, the entire complex was renamed Camillus Mall. In 1987, Sears moved from their previous location in Fairmount Fair, adding an 84,800 square foot store to the mall in 1987. Silo expanded around the same time, adding an entrance accessible from within the mall. An additional four movie screens were added, however they were not in the same location as the original two, so patrons needed to determine whether their film was showing in "one n' two" or "three through six". Eventually, the original two screens were closed, and Hoyts Cinemas expanded "three through six" into the adjacent vacant Silo space, creating a single ten screen facility. In its prime, the enclosed mall featured tenants such as Burger King, Radio Shack, Fanny Farmer, Lane Bryant and Afterthoughts.

The Decline

Camillus Mall's decline began in 1990, just as the newer and larger Carousel Center opened nearby, concurrent with the beginning of a shift in the area's demographics. Also, Camillus Mall was not convenient to most major highways. In 1994 Hess's closed and became Chappell's then Bon-Ton. In the years to follow, a number of anchor stores and smaller shops began to close, including Silo, Kmart, and Hills. By 2001, Sears and JCPenney had closed as well.

Camillus Commons

In 2003, the entire mall was torn down [cite web| url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=list&p_topdoc=21| title=Demolition Starts on Camillus Mall| publisher=Post Standard, The(Syracuse, NY)| date=2003-07-10| accessmonthday=February 14| accessyear=2008 ] , except for Kmart, which was sold to the West Genesee School District to be converted to a school bus garage, Bon-Ton, the newly constructed freestanding Applebee's, and the adjoining building that contained an Eckerd and P&C Market. A new plaza, called Camillus Commons, was constructed on the site of the mall. Lowe's opened in January 2006, and a Wal-Mart Supercenter moved from Fairmount Fair in June 2006.

References

External links

* [http://deadmalls.com/malls/camillus_mall.html DeadMalls.com writeup]