Center Mall

Center Mall
Location Omaha, Nebraska, United States
Opening date 1955
Developer John Wiebe
Management The Center LLC
Owner First Management Inc
Parking A 2-story parking garage

The Center Mall, or The Center, is an enclosed shopping mall that has been converted to an office building that is located in Omaha, Nebraska at the intersection of South 42nd and Center Streets. Originally opened in 1955,[1] the mall was home to a Kilpatrick's, and later a Younkers. Its opening is considered as heralding the "age of shopping malls in Omaha." [2]

History

The Center was built in 1955 by the same private developer that built Westroads Mall in 1966. It featured one department store, a local company called Kilpatrick's, which was later bought by and re-branded as Younkers. With a very compact design, the mall's interior arcade areas were intimate, with stores clustered very close together on three levels. At the top of the mall was a bowling alley, and a gas station in the corner of the parking structure.

After the closure of the Younkers in the early 1990s, most of the stores moved out. The mall has been converted to office space housing a variety of private businesses and government offices. A lightning fire struck the mall in 2007 causing minimum damage.[3]

References

  1. "Man who changed Omaha's retail landscape dead at age 86," Omaha World Herald. Retrieved 8/13/10.
  2. "Timeline: Omaha History", KETV. Retrieved 8/12/10.
  3. "Lightning Sparks Fire At Center Mall", KETV. Retrieved 8/13/10.

External links

Coordinates: 41°14′26″N 95°58′30″W / 41.24056°N 95.97500°W