Help needed with info on sixty former pedestrian malls

The topic of my capstone (thesis) for my Masters in Urban Planning is the pedestrian mall.  I’ve taken on the ambitious task of documenting every pedestrian mall built in North America between 1959-1984.  So far I have documentation on 135 pedestrian malls created during this 25-year period.  Of those I know the current status of 75.  I believe the 60 that remain on my list have all been removed.  Some of you out there reading this post have knowledge about some of these.

For my purposes a pedestrian mall is a formerly through street that was converted to a pedestrian zone.

I’m looking for the following information:

• Year opened (if not listed below)
• Length (measured in blocks)
• Width of right-of-way (measured in feet)
• Street that was closed for the mall (from street to street)
• Did the mall have fixed canopies
• Year street reopened

Although you are all very knowledgeable, for academic purposes I could use links to sources such as newspaper articles, organization/city websites and such that have the information I seek.

Alphabetical listing by city (mall name, city, state, year opened):

1. Hamilton Mall Allentown Pennsylvania 1973
2. Ann Arbor Michigan
3. Lexington Mall Baltimore Maryland 1974
4. Downtown Mall Centrallia Illinois 1970
5. Neil Street Champaign Illinois
6. City Center Mall Coos Bay Oregon 1969
7. Stoneplace Mall Dallas Texas 1965
8. Vermillion Park Mall Danville Illinois 1967
9. Landmark Mall Decatur Illinois 1970
10. Town Clock Plaza Dubuque Iowa 1971
11. Elgin Illinois
12. Downtown Mall Erie Pennsylvania 1974
13. Fargo North Dakota
14. Franklin Commons Fayetteville North Carolina
15. Las Olas Boulevard Fort Lauderdale Florida
16. St. Clair Mall Frankfort Kentucky 1974
17. Downtown Plaza Freeport Illinois 1968
18. Central Plaza Galveston Texas 1971
19. Downtown Greenville Mall Greenville North Carolina 1975
20. Coffee Street Mall Greenville South Carolina 1975
21. Pratt Street Hartford Connecticut
22. Progress Place Jackson Michigan 1965
23. Downtown Mall Lake Charles Louisiana 1970
24. Milwaukee Wisconsin
25. Courthouse Plaza Monroe North Carolina 1973
26. Walnut Plaza Muncie Indiana 1975
27. Parkway Mall Napa California 1974
28. Downtown Mall New Bedford Massachusetts 1974
29. Captain’s Walk New London Connecticut 1973
30. Plaza Park Mall Oxnard California 1969
31. Main Street Mall Painesville Ohio 1973
32. Worth Avenue Palm Beach Florida
33. Parsons Plaza Parsons Kansas 1971
34. Main Street Mall Paterson New Jersey 1975
35. Chestnut Street Transitway Philadelphia Pennsylvania 1975
36. Maplewood Mall Philadelphia Pennsylvania 1974
37. Pomona Mall Pomona California 1963
38. Centre Street Mall Pottsville Pennsylvania 1977
39. Westchester Mall Providence Rhode Island 1965
40. St. Roch Mall Quebec City Quebec 1974
41. Penn Square Reading Pennsylvania 1975
42. Redlands Mall Redlands California 1977
43. Rock Hill South Carolina
44. Main Street Saint Charles Missouri
45. Wyoming Avenue Mini-Mall Scranton Pennsylvania 1978
46. Plaza 8 Sheboygan Wisconsin 1976
47. Main Street Mall Spartanburg South Carolina 1974
48. Springfield Missouri
49. Old Capitol Plaza Springfield Illinois 1971
50. Mall Germain St. Cloud Minnesota 1972
51. Broadway Plaza Tacoma Washington 1974
52. Franklin Mall Tampa Florida 1974
53. Yonge Street Toronto Ontario
54. Trenton Commons Trenton New Jersey 1974
55. Main Street Mall Vicksburg Mississippi 1970s
56. Gay Street Mall West Chester Pennsylvania
57. Center City Mall Williamsport Pennsylvania 1976
58. Market Street Mall Wilmington Delaware 1976
59. Levee Plaza Winona Minnesota 1969
60. Liberty Place/Gallery Place Washington District of Columbia 1976

Complicating matters is how a pedestrian mall was defined.  A full mall was completely closed to all vehicles except emergency vehicles.  A transit mall, like Denver’s 16th Street, allows transit vehicles.  But then we have the murky waters of the “semi” mall – vehicles are allowed but little to no on-street parking is.

For example it is possible that East Park Central East in Springfield, MO (above, map) was considered to be a semi-mall at the time.  Or Springfield had a completely closed street that was their pedestrian mall?  Given the fact that Lawrence Halprin did the adjacent Park Central Square I’d say they did label the above a mall.

I’ve been here several times.  The most recent was last year.

OK, 59 left. Wait, not so fast.  I found a document (PDF) from the City of Springfield that indicates the original plan was all four streets entering the square would be pedestrian malls and in 1979 they were reopened.  But other evidence suggests traffic was never barred from the Square.  So it is 60 — I’m still unsure how to classify Springfield, MO.

I’ve visited other places on the above list, such as Parsons, KS.

Parsons, KS had a “full” mall on Main Street and concrete canopies over the sidewalks.  Today they once again have a more traditional street design.  The canopies were partially destroyed by a tornado – I just don’t know the year.

I’ve sent out requests for information on many of the above but only a few have responded.  I got an email back from one town in the Northeast that said their mall remains — a 24 foot wide alley behind their main shopping street where vehicles were banned.  Not sure I get the point of that one.  A car-free alley is better than a street with cars?

It is too early in my research to talk findings or conclusions.  I have been surprised by the number of these malls that remain.  If you have knowledge of these please share in the comments below or email me.  My graduation is 3-weeks from today.

– Steve Patterson