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]
| Oldtown Mall | |
 An abandoned storefront with the mall in the background | |
 | |
| Location | Baltimore, Maryland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°17′47″N 76°36′14″W / 39.2963°N 76.6038°W |
| Address | 500 N. Gay Street, Baltimore, MD 21202 |
| Opening date | 1818 (stores open), 1968 (the mall itself opened)[1] |
| No. of stores and services | 64 |
| No. of anchor tenants | 1 (closed)[2] |
| Public transit access | Johns Hopkins Hospital, Shot Tower/Market Place, |
History
edit
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
editThe 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
editStarting 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]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Old Town Mall". Baltimore Heritage. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Big-name developers team up to tackle Old Town Mall". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ a b c "Nothing new with Old Town Mall". Darkroom.baltimoresun.com. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "Great House of Isaac Benesch and Sons".
- ^ "Retro Baltimore, Now-and-then pictures: Old Town Mall in East". Retrobaltimore.tumblr.com. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "Old Town Mall waits for rescue after years of decline, neglect - tribunedigital-baltimoresun". Articles.baltimoresun.com. 21 July 2003. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "The Nevermore Haunt". Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- ^ "2 men shot at Old Town Mall to survive | Maryland News - WBAL Home". Wbaltv.com. 25 March 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ "Man arrested in Old Town Mall double shooting | Maryland News - WBAL Home". Wbaltv.com. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
- ^ Melody Simmons (1 June 2016). "Exclusive: Old Town Mall redevelopment plan set to expand again". Baltimore Business Journal. Retrieved 27 July 2016.