Fort Saginaw Mall

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Fort Saginaw Mall
1960s image of Fort Saginaw Mall
Facts and statistics
Location	Buena Vista Charter Township, Michigan, United States
Opening date	ca. 1966
Closing date	late 1990s
Owner	Cafaro Company
No. of stores and services	0
No. of anchor tenants	0
Total retail floor area	380,000 square feet (35,000 m²)[1]
No. of floors	1

Fort Saginaw Mall was an enclosed shopping mall located in Buena Vista Township, Michigan, just outside the city of Saginaw, Michigan, United States. Opened in 1966, the mall served as Saginaw's only enclosed mall until Fashion Square Mall opened on the other end of town in 1972. Fort Saginaw Mall had become a dead mall by the 1980s, as many of its stores had closed; by the end of the 1990s, the entire mall was closed off, except for an attached Kmart which remained open until May 2004.

Currently a vacant building, the mall was owned by Cafaro Company of Youngstown, Ohio long after its closure. Although the community had made plans to demolish it, Cafaro initially refused to sell to the charter township; however, as of April 2008, the township now claims title to the abandoned building, and will demolish it for new development.^[1]

Contents 1 History 2 The mall today 3 Images 4 References

[edit] History

Fort Saginaw Mall opened in Buena Vista Township, a charter township just outside the city limits of Saginaw, Michigan, in 1966. It was an "L"-shaped enclosed mall, comprising an eastern and southern wing. Federal, a department store based in Detroit, Michigan, served as the eastern anchor store;^[1][2] at the southern end, but not accessible from the mall concourse itself, was a Kmart discount store with adjacent Kmart Foods supermarket. A five-and-dime store called Scott's 5 & 10, as well as a small movie theater, were also located in the southern wing, and overall, the mall comprised forty stores at its peak.^[1] It was the only mall in Saginaw until Fashion Square Mall opened in 1972, on the north end of town.

In 1976, the theater closed amid rumors that its manager had been murdered;^[3] the theater did re-open in 1979, but it only showed one film before closing again and being converted to retail space. Also in the 1970s, Scott's 5 & 10 was converted to T G & Y.

Federal closed its stores in the late 1970s; their store at Fort Saginaw Mall was eventually replaced with Burlington Coat Factory. The elimination of the Kmart Foods line made way for an expansion of the mall's Kmart store into the space formerly occupied by Kmart Foods. At some point in the 1980s, Big Lots was also added in the eastern wing; this store, however, was only accessible from outside. In addition, T G & Y was eventually closed and replaced with Norman's, a local sporting goods store.

After Burlington Coat Factory relocated in 1991, its former space at the mall was assumed by Phar-Mor, a discount drugstore chain; this store would then close a year later, as would most of the mall's remaining tenants. With the exception of Kmart, all of Fort Saginaw Mall was closed off near the end of the decade; Kmart itself would remain in operation until 2004.

[edit] The mall today

Boarded up and vandalized for several years, the abandoned Fort Saginaw Mall is considered an eyesore by the community.^[4] In 2007, Buena Vista Charter Township officials made plans to buy the property from Cafaro Company for $2 million; Cafaro, however, refused to sell the mall, as they had plans to redevelop it.^[4][5] The township has since decided to assume the vacant property under eminent domain.^[2][6] As of April 2008, Buena Vista Charter Township has successfully purchased the property; they plan to redevelop it for various uses.^[1]

[edit] Images

Former Kmart

Former mall entrance next to Kmart

Former Big Lots

[edit] References