Columbus Square Mall
Columbus Square Mall was an American indoor shopping mall in Columbus, Georgia. It was one of the first indoor shopping malls to open in the state of Georgia.[1]
Rise
Columbus Square Mall opened in 1965.[1] The mall's style was typical for that time period, a single level with anchor stores on each end of the main corridor. The two original anchors were Sears and JCPenney. Interestingly, the Sears store was independently owned by Sears, Roebuck and Company. The store was simply attached to the separately owned mall. In the late 1970s, Columbus Square expanded, adding another wing that extended from the rear of the main corridor and ended with a third anchor, the local department store Kirven's, which continued to operate a large downtown store for many years after opening the Columbus Square location. Another well-known local store at Columbus Square was Kiralfy's, a women's clothing store.
Fall
In early 1993, with declining attendance, Kirven's went out of business, leaving one of the mall's three main stores vacant and starting a slow but steady decline in store closures in the building's rear wing. Eventually, the entire rear wing was closed, and the remaining tenants relocated to the front of the mall.
The mall soon fell into disrepair and was perceived by local residents as a place of crime and violence, further reducing attendance. JCPenney relocated to Peachtree Mall the following year, leaving the mall with only one anchor store. In 1999, the city exercised the option to purchase the mall after voters approved the construction of a new library at the site using a 1% sales tax. The Sears building was not included in the purchase. The mall was then demolished. Sears remained open as a standalone store, its former mall entrance walled off, until the mid-2000s when a new Sears store opened in Columbus Park Crossing in North Columbus. At that time, the school district purchased the Sears property.
The site now houses the Columbus Public Library, which opened on January 3, 2005.[1] In January 2008, the Sears building was demolished to make way for a new Muscogee County School District administration building. This marked the final chapter of the mall's history.
References
Coordinates: 32°28′35″N 84°56′42″W / 32.476460°N 84.944937°W
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