One more mall gone in this country!,...thats right, the Westdale Mall was an enclosed mall in the city of Cedar Rapids, IA that was closed at the end of March 2014 and torn down over the summer except for JCPenney and Younker's. The mall was a two-story shopping center located on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids, with competition from Lindale Mall on the other side of town. Westdale is in the process of going from dead enclosed mall, to repurposed, lifestyle center and office district.
The mall opened in October 1979, but the mall went into development in 1972, with intentions of 560,000 square feet of retail space, then replanned to be over 800,000 square feet in 1974, and the delay in planning caused construction to begin in 1976, and an electrical strike delayed the opening to October 4, 1979.
The mall already seemed to be doomed, when construction and development took over 7 years. The city went through a recession in the 1980s, where alot of jobs were lost, but the mall was still popular, at a 93% occupancy with 114 stores operating, the mall was thriving.
JCPenney, Montgomery Ward, Younker's, and Brandeis were all planned original anchor stores to the mall before construction, Brandeis withdrew from the mall while there store was under construction. Both JCPenney and Wards relocated from downtown to the mall, while Younker's opened in 1980 with Petersen Harned Von Maur, which opened in the purposed Brandeis store in 1980.
Montgomery Ward closed in 2001 and Steve & Barry's opened in November 2005. Von Maur closed in January 2007. Steve & Barry's closed in November 2008.
The mall was up for sale several times, in sheriff's sales and acquisitions that led to its demise.
The mall closed in March 2014, all remaining inline tenants were forced to move out, and all except JCPenney and Younker's was demolished.
Here are pictures of the mall from a dark night in January 2014:
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| Former Montgomery Ward store |
Thank you for reading.
***Can anyone try and get pictures of the construction and feel free to post in the comments below.
ReplyDeleteIt was between sometime in the first half of the '90's, possibly 95-98 when Terry Ferrel visited for an autograph signing at Westdale Mall. I had been in line for over an our and a half, my young son in my arms waiting to get to meet Terry. They announced that Terry would have to go, and I was only tenth in line. Almost there, I lamented, and yet not close enough. My son jumps out of my arms, runs over to where Terry is crossing to the exit doors calling out Dax Wait! I started after him calling out for him to stop. Terry, her security guards around her all turn as one, two of the mall security grab me, apparently the whole lot thought the best way to handle things was to just stop everyone running towards Terry. Her guards start to act like they are going to grab my son. Terry stops them and scoops my son up into her arms for a big hug. I remember how long her hair was as I was anxiously awaiting to see what would happen next, guards still holding my arms. Terry puts my son down bending down to point to me and says hey you are such a cute little guy, thanks for that big hug..or something close to that from what I remember, and she points to me and says, but your mom over there, is that her? my son nodded, she says, well she is worried so you should get back over to her and give her a big hug from me, ok? my son nods smiling and says thank you ad he loves her lol and she waves at me and sends me a blown kiss and smiles. The guards let me go and I run to meet my son, as Terry is heading out the door.
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