1970's Vintage HUD and the City of Middletown

Although the idea was a failure, I do miss the old mall sometimes.

"If people in Middletown spent as much time looking at the present and the future as they do lamenting about the past and what never was, maybe this town would move forward. It appears presently to many can't get over their childhoods and the 50'-60's", -wasteful.......


Guilty as charged wasteful. I'm one of the biggest perpetrators of this. For me, it's a comfort thing that evokes memories of a much more pleasant time in this town. I have not lost the fact that this town needs to be much more progressive in its thinking and am well aware that it is lagging far behind the surrounding areas and has since the early 80's. Unfortunately, I don't think we will get to where we want to go with the present administration running this town. That's why I have suggested numerous times that we gut and replace city council, fire the city manager and many of the department heads and start from the ground floor with new people with new attitudes. They (and past admin's) are part of the reason why we have remained stagnant in town growth.

If people in Middletown spent as much time looking at the present and the future as they do lamenting about the past and what never was, maybe this town would move forward.  It appears presently to many can't get over their childhoods and the 50'-60's, so Middletown is stuck in neutral while the surrounding areas pass you by, moving into the future.   New Slogan for Middletown should be, "Middletown the City that was, but will never be again".

The "People's Plan"

The late Perry Thatcher's vision for a new downtown Middletown.

spiderjohn wrote:   The "peoples' plan" for that area?

The “People’s Plan” was branded by the late Perry Thatcher.  It was his plan for the post-mall area.  He wasn’t on council at the time, but he proposed it as a concerned citizen, businessman, and property owner.  Said his plan was the “will of the people” and much cheaper than what the city was proposing. 

It involved the following:

1.)    Removing all buildings on the south side of Central between the old Central Store and the large 5/3 building

2.)    Retaining the old mall fountain, but placing a glass enclosure around it and connecting to the north mall concourse that would remain and tie into the Manchester somehow as convention center space.

3.)    Re-routing Central Avenue traffic around the fountain and allowing for private redevelopment of the area that was removed.  Said Cristo was interested in the commercial development

4.)    Placing a new canopy and glass front over the buildings on the north side of Central.  This would allow the mall storefronts to remain.  Think Town and Country in Kettering.

Here’s an old article about ità http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1998/12/11/loc_mallplan11.html

Thatcher paid for all the architectural renderings and blueprints.  I have a copy of it I can scan and post.

But what does this so-called “outsider” know anyway?

Hey SupportM--what could you possibly miss from the old enclosed mall?

Insanity 

Mike_Presta wrote:   The original plan called for an "International food court" similar to the one in Kansas City.  I recall discussing this, and whether the demographics of Middletown would support such a food court, especially in the downtown area.  The general agreement was that Middletown "was not a pimple on Kansas City's @ss" and that even though many of us that worked in McGraw's Engineering department would like such an eatery, "international" cuisine would likely fail in this location.

Mike - where was the international food court going to be?  That's the first I've heard of that idea.  The South Concourse (Broad St) was never fully finished.  Plans for that area included another 1,000 car parking garage and a department store (Elder-Beerman).  They never materialized.  The entrance to the mall at that spot was different than the three other main entrances.  The concourse was also shorter in length than the others.  One of the marketing pieces I have branded that particular area as "Market" or "Marketplace.' Probably a good thing it wasn't finished or the city would be dealing with two aging structures versus just one.
 

Dead man walkin' wrote: swohio75 wrote: So nice to see Mr. Self take credit for something he didn't do. This is simply a repost from a thread at Urbanohio.com Mike, conceptual planning for the mall began in the late 1960s as documented in a comprehensive plan for Downtown Middletown. I think it's from 1968. I have seen a copy of it. Here's the thread from UrbanOhio-->http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,6184.0.html . There is an additional posting that is related to the post that is included in this forum. But I agree, work did not begin until the 1970s. Sw, you moron, where were you in the late 60s and in the 70s? Probably not even a gleam in your daddy's eye, I'd guess.  Presta hasn't been doing his job here lately, but he was right in what he said on this one.  Of course it took them years and years to plan the d*m mall, They were no quicker then than they are now. But they built the thing in the mid 70s, just like he said. Quit making trouble, and come back when you're old enough to drink whisky. Moron.

I know when the mall was built.  I never questioned Mike on that or anything else he mentioned in his post.  The post from UrbanOhio never claimed the mall was built in the 1960s, just the planning for the mall started in the 1960s.  I was just pointing that out.

Why the naming calling?  And I'll pass on the whiskey.  Not my choice drink. But let me assure you that I have been "of age" for quite sometime.

What did they do with the fountain and where did it go?
Wonder if it is stored at the city garage?

Thanks SW Ohio and Viet Vet.

Mike (and some of you folks who were around in the 50's and 60's).....concerning Nelson's comments on the pedestrian walkway on Central- seems to me there were posts or barricades across Central at Verity by JC Penney/Castell Bldg. intersection and there was foot traffic only from there down towards G.C.Murphy (Beau Verre) at Central and Broad. Don't remember it lasting all that long.


Great pictures Nelson. Certainly brings back memories for me as I remember the downtown area in my youth up until the end of high school in the mid-sixties. There were so many shoe stores. Walkers, Florsheim (?), Moellers (?), Nobels, and more. Then, when everything started moving out east to the Midd. Shopping Center in 1958, the place to shop for shoes was the Gentry Den to buy some of those British Walkers, the preferred shoe of the 60's crowd I hung around with.

Filson's/Mabley-Carew were the places to go for the women shoppers, I believe.

Notice the Castell Bldg. across from J.C. Penney? Many professionals filled that building in it's heyday. My dentist, Dr. Sebald, had an office on the 4th floor, (I think)? J.C Penney had a killer toy selection at Christmas time on the upper floor.

Robertson & Son Sporting Goods on Central (now a shadow of it's former self in Poasttown), across from Reed-Klopp Furniture also had a great Christmas toy selection upstairs.

Just out of curiousity, Mike- Spider-, do you remember when they re-routed Verity Parkway by J.C Penneys? Verity did go to the right of the Central Store (Richie's Pawn Central now) on the Castell Bldg. side, right? Reedy's Meat Market sat behind the Castell Bldg. on Verity didn't it? Some may only know the current layout of Verity. Wasn't always so.

Thanks for finding the pictures.