Woodmar Mall

Woodmar Mall
Location Hammond, Indiana, United States
Coordinates 41°35′38″N 87°28′54″W / 41.593897°N 87.481668°W / 41.593897; -87.481668Coordinates: 41°35′38″N 87°28′54″W / 41.593897°N 87.481668°W / 41.593897; -87.481668
Address Indianapolis Boulevard between 165th Street and 167th Street
Opening date 1954
Closing date 2006
(demolished 2006)
Owner Landau & Heyman
Architect Victor Gruen
No. of anchor tenants 1
No. of floors 1 (3 floors for the Carson Pirie Scott and Co. store)

Woodmar Mall was an indoor shopping mall located at Indianapolis Boulevard between 165th Street and 167th Street in Hammond, Indiana. It opened in 1954 and was anchored by Carson Pirie Scott and Co. The mall was closed and demolished in 2006.

History

The Chicago-based developers Landau & Heyman purchased a 20-acre lot in the Woodmar neighborhood of Hammond, Indiana in 1953.[1] They commissioned architect Victor Gruen, who designed the mall as a "v" with a Carson Pirie Scott and Co. store in the center.[2] The shopping center was constructed at a cost of $3 million and opened in early 1954 with eight stores including J.J. Newberry and National Supermarkets. Fourteen additional stores opened on May 19 of that year.[1] The Carson's store was the first one established by the Chicago-based merchant in the state of Indiana and opened on November 1, 1954.[3] In 1964, the Carson's store was expanded from 65,000 sq. ft. to 115,000 with the addition of a third floor.[4] The following year, the mall was enclosed.[1]

After J.J. Newberry left the mall, its former space was subdivided into a 15-store "mini mall" called the "Court of Lions" which opened in September 1975. This generated three times the rent the Newberry's had provided and a combined business volume "between three and four times that of the variety store."[5] The Court of Lions saw its revenues increase by 50% over the course of the next three years.[6] It was modeled after the Court of the Lions in Granada, Spain.[1] A similar mini-mall, the "Court of Turtles" opened in 1977 in the space originally occupied by National Supermarkets.[1] A renovation of the mall began in 1987[7] and was completed in 1990.[8]

Long-term competition from the River Oaks Center in Calumet City, Illinois and Southlake Mall in Hobart, Indiana drew business away from Woodmar and led to the mall's decline.[1] By 2004, fewer than a dozen stores remained open.[9] In February 2006, the decision was made to demolish the mall except for the Carson's store.[10] The Hammond Redevelopment Commission announced plans in June 2016 for a $12 million sports complex to be built on the site of the former mall.[11] The Carson's store will close in 2018 as part of its parent company's liquidation.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bierschenk, Edwin (June 7, 2016), "A sporting chance for revival at former Woodmar site", The Times of Northwest Indiana, Munster, Indiana, archived from the original on January 16, 2017
  2. ↑ Hardwick, M. Jeffrey (2003). "Chapter Five: A 'Shopper's Paradise' for Suburbia". Mall Maker: Victor Gruen, Architect of an American Dream. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-0812237627.
  3. ↑ "Carson Opens Third Branch Unit Tomorrow", Chicago Tribune, p. 9, Section 2, October 31, 1954
  4. ↑ Dombrowski, Louis (August 14, 1964), "Carson's Plans 3 Million Dollar Store Expansion", Chicago Tribune, p. 5, Section 3
  5. ↑ "Mini-malls trendy way to make profit", Chicago Tribune, p. 1, Section 12, February 8, 1976
  6. ↑ Millenson, Michael (February 10, 1980), "Old World Charm selling 'theme' malls", Chicago Tribune, p. 1, Section 14
  7. ↑ "Mall gets renovation loan", Post-Tribune, Gary, Indiana, December 11, 1987 – via HighBeam Research, A $9 million refinancing loan has been obtained by Woodmar Mall in Hammond to complete renovation at the 32-year-old shopping center.
  8. ↑ "Woodmar Mall starts final lap in renovation". Post-Tribune. Gary, Indiana. May 30, 1990 – via HighBeam Research. The final phase of a three-year renovation program at Woodmar Mall here has begun, said Manager Larry Davis. The project began May 21 and is expected to be completed by the end of July [1990].
  9. ↑ "Mall in Hammond, Ind., is devoid of stores, shoppers and management.", The Times of Northwest Indiana, Munster, Indiana, August 28, 2004 – via HighBeam Research, With less than a dozen stores remaining, promised improvements undone and missing management, Woodmar shoppers, employees and store managers all are wondering if there's a future for the 50-year-old enclosed mall.
  10. ↑ Holecek, Andrea (February 8, 2006), "Wrecking ball aimed at Woodmar Mall", The Times of Northwest Indiana, Munster, Indiana, archived from the original on January 16, 2017
  11. ↑ Quinn, Michelle L. (June 8, 2016), "Former Woodmar property eyed for sports complex", Post-Tribune, Merrillville, Indiana, archived from the original on June 9, 2016
  12. ↑ Pete, Joseph S. (April 29, 2018). "Carson's to close in Southlake Mall, Hammond and Michigan City". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Munster, Indiana. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Carson's will close its department stores in Southlake Mall in Hobart, the Marquette Mall in Michigan City and in Hammond, where the three-story store is all that remains of the once-thriving but now largely demolished Woodmar Mall.
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