Valley Fair Shopping Center
Total retail floor area 265,400 sq ft (24,660 m2) (At mall's peak) | | |
No. of floors | 1 | |
---|---|---|
Public transit access | Valley Transit |
The Valley Fair Shopping Center, Valley Fair Mall, or Valley Fair Center was a shopping mall in Appleton, in the U.S. state of Wisconsin that opened on March 10, 1955. This enclosed mall was among the first to ever be built within the United States, and was the first to ever open.[2] Demolition of parts of the shopping center began on August 8, 2007.[3]
History
Construction on Valley Fair began on July 1, 1953.[4] It was located in the town of Menasha, Wisconsin until the land on which it stood was annexed to Appleton. The mall was built by Hamilton Construction Company under the name Hoffman Shopping Centers, Inc. Designed by George Narovec of Appleton, it was one of the first malls in Wisconsin to be enclosed. The mall's grand opening was March 10, 1955.[4] It opened fully on August 11, 1955. The mall originally had six stores: Krambo Supermarkets (renamed Kroger), House of Camera & Cards, Badger Paint & Hardware, Donald's, Hamilton Bakery and Eddie's Self-Service Liquor.[5]
The next two years saw further expansion in phases, fronted on the eastern end by a W. T. Grant discount store. With this, the mall was fully completed by 1956. It remained relatively unchanged through 1976, when the Grant's anchor ceased with the rest of the entire chain.
In a huge expansion and renovation project in 1978-1979, the mall re-tenanted, with less emphasis on local businesses and more on nationally known tenants. This project included:
- An extension of the east wing of the mall, going through the former W.T. Grant store. Space was created for 15-20 new shops, most of them national chains. Included were Brauns, RadioShack, Fanny Farmer, Thom McAn, Walgreens, Woolworth's, and Hallmark Cards. This section fronted a huge Kohl's Department Store/Supermarket combo, one of four built north of Milwaukee.[6][7] Kohl's Department Store at Valley Fair eventually closed near the end of the 1990s, with new replacement stores opening near Darboy (a suburb in the Southeast corner of Appleton) and another one in Neenah.[4]
- A new Marcus 3-screen cineplex was built onto the rear of the mall adjacent to Center Court. In the late 1980s they were divided to create a 6-screen cineplex.[5]
- Alterations were done to the older 1950s portion of the mall to blend it into the newer section, including new carpeting laid atop the original concrete flooring, new lighting fixtures and exterior signage.<[5]
Through the 1980s and early 1990s, the mall changed ownership several times.
This was followed by Fox River Mall opening in 1984 in Grand Chute, a suburb of Appleton. Tenants started to relocate to both malls as leases came up, though others would stick it out up through the late 1990s.[5]
YouthFutures
YouthFutures was a non-profit, Christian-oriented organization created in 2002. Buying out the mall, it started to re-tenant a third time, removing all the national chains that were left, and refocusing on local tenants that were more family-oriented in nature. The former Kohl's building was split between an indoor skateboarding park, and a gathering place for teens, where local bands played on weekends. This venture would have created the nation's first functioning "youth mall" had it taken off, but it was bogged down by the high costs for heating and cooling the nearly 50-year-old structure, and remodeling was far beyond their financial reach.[4][5]
Present
Youth Futures sold the mall on March 30, 2006 to "VF Partners", a partnership between Commercial Horizons, Rollie Winter and Associates, and Bomier, for $2.3 million. "VF Partners" has been redeveloping the 26-acre, Valley Fair site since 2006. They have demolished most of the property.
In late August 2015, Marcus Theaters announced the Valley Value Cinema would close soon and it played its final movie on Monday September 7, 2015.[13] The cinema was using reel film and the owners didn't transition to digital format.[13]
Access
- US-10 from either east or west to WIS-47northbound
- Memorial Drive (WIS 47) from either north or south
- Calumet Street from the east
Images
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West Wing of Valley Fair Mall
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FormerCopps Food Center)
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One of Two Valley Fair signs
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The Marcus Valley Value Cinema of Valley Fair
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A newCopps Food Center(former Kohl's Building)
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2006 Aerial Photo of Mall
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Aerial view of Valley Fair Shopping Center as of 2012
References
- ^ a b c d Commercial Horizons, "Valley Fair redevelopment plan announced", June 9th, 2006, retrieved 24 August 2011.
- ^ "Looking back: Valley Fair Mall. (n.d.)". The Post Crescent. 2018-02-23. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
- WGBAnewscast, August 9, 2007
- ^ a b c d e History at the Castle, "Fox Valley History" Archived 2007-10-01 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Dead Malls dot Com, "Dead Malls dot Com features Valley Fair Mall", July 27, 2009, retrieved 27 August 2011.
- Milwaukee Sentinel June 14, 2002, [1], Retrieved 25 August 2011.
- Milwaukee Sentinel10-28-1972, p. 6, pt. 2, retrieved 25 August 2011.
- , September 30, 2009, retrieved 28 August 2011.
- , Oct 7, 2009, retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^ Fox 11 News WLUK, "Copps approved for Valley Fair site", 08 October 2009, retrieved 27 August 2011.
- , Jun 12, 2010, retrieved 28 August 2011.
- ^ Commercial Horizons, "Copps Food Center may break ground soon at Appleton's Valley Fair mall site", October 01, 2009, retrieved 23 August 2011.
- ^ WLUK.