The early 80’s were Southtown’s heyday with the newly finished expansion of the mall (from removal of the GC Murphy Mart next to JC Penney where the hallway was) around 1977 and expansion to Sears…taking nearly 5 years to complete when Sears opened in ‘82. Glenbrook just finished a “new expansion” running from south of center court to JC Penney.

Glenbrook expanded again in 1980 with the square addition from Sears to Penney’s which included the Hudson’s store, food court and ice rink. THIS was Southtown’s first problem… Glenbrook mall’s constant “refreshing and inviting mall interior”… When Southtown did their expansion, the old part of the mall looked just that, old and tired. Spiece and Kohl’s taking over the old Montgomery Ward brought a little update to that section of the mall, but the main halls just appeared “dark and dreary”. I don’t think crime or Harvester was the problem as much as the slummy appearance of the mall, and little southside development. Even as late as the mid-70s, the Northside of town didn’t extend much past Coliseum Blvd, and the spot between there and I-69 was PRIME!
When Kohl’s closed in the late 80’s, and the “new stores” started becoming vacant from a “lack of traffic” this was the second major blow to the mall, rent was near the same at the “new Glenbrook Square” and had a lot more traffic. The third and final to the mall blow was the closing of Ayres… the southernmost store stuck at the far end of the dark and dreary mall. When Penney’s closed, the damage was already done with the mall mostly vacant.

Coincidentally, I live in an area (Akron, OH) which has a mall that went thru the exact same history (and had the reputation of being in “a bad area”). Sears and Penney’s are the only stores there also. The mall (Rolling Acres) still stands… but for how long?

Email me when I can see it,
Thanks,
Dan

At Glenbrook we got stopped within thirty seconds.

I would love to see that whole section have a stop light put in and that in itself would improve life for everyone. In addition when the Pufferbelly Bike Trail construction begins the bike trail will be extended from Lawton across Omni Source and behind Centlivere and up to Fernhill as Phase One and so having safe passage between Centlivere and the Johnny Appleseed Part of the trail so would be a good thing.

Please keep in mind I am not saying to nix your idea of a median strip or an elevated speed reduction strip but not unless it is matched with an actual stop light system (a 4 way stop even) as well.

Obviously, Forbes is wrong.